Fullmetal Alchemist: Return to Chaos
by DameonStarflame
Summary: A year after Eckhart's invasion of Amestris, the Elrics are faced with a tempting proposal: Return to Amestris forever, or remain trapped in Germany forever. What will the Elrics choose? What awaits them if they go back to Amestris? Read and Find Out!
1. Prologue: After the Invasion

Fullmetal Alchemist:

Return to Chaos

Prologue: After the Invasion

A month had passed as cleanup continued in the wake of Eckhart's invasion of Central.

Roy Mustang smiled as he entered the familiar office. It was the same office he had resided in before his voluntary demotion in which he had transferred to a remote northern outpost to try and forget the events from years past. The inside was filled with boxes, as Jean Havoc glanced over to see him.

"Welcome back to Central, General Mustang." He said, grinning as he emphasized Roy's rank.

A day after the invasion, Roy had requested to be returned to Central. The leader of the assembly, Director Johnson, was pleased to learn of Roy's request and personally granted his transfer. In the week preceding his return, Roy was promoted to a full General. He was also notified that his old team would be regrouped and placed back under his command, intended to be a gesture of good faith from the assembly.

Kain Fuery, Vato Falman and Heymans Breda all nodded in agreement as they began unpacking their belongings.

"It's good to be back, Lieutenant Havoc." Roy replied, smiling.

Riza Hawkeye approached with a file in hand, holding it out to him. Black Hayate sat obediently beside her. "I think you requested this, sir. I've been holding it for you ever since they ordered it removed."

Roy nodded as he took the file and went over to a safe, locking it away. "All right, we've got a lot of work to do. I want you all stop unpacking and go help with the cleanup."

"Yes sir!" The others said, jumping at his order and running out the door quickly.

Black Hayate followed his master quickly with cheerful barks.

Roy sniggered as he went to the window to watch them leave headquarters. "It really is good to be back…" He left the office shortly afterwards, knowing Riza would give him hell if he didn't join them.

* * *

After the events in Central, Sciezka decided to seek refuge in Risembool with the Rockbells for a time.

Winry Rockbell sighed as she cleaned up her work station, while Sciezka read one of the medical books she had laying around in her room.

"I must admit, I wish you had more books here. Playing with the local children is fun, but my heart really does lie in books…"

Winry snickered as Sciezka closed the book. "Sorry, Sciezka, but you know we're not ones for reading around here."

Den's muffled barking could be heard outside as Winry checked to see what he was barking at.

"Silly dog…" She said. She smiled in amusement as Sciezka joined her out of curiosity. "He's just chasing a rabbit, don't worry about it."

Sciezka sighed as she stared out the window. "Are you sure it's fine for me to stay here? I can find somewhere else if you want me to leave."

Winry looked at her in surprise. "Why would you think we'd want you to leave? It's fun having you here! You can stay for as long as you like!"

Sciezka smiled happily at Winry. "Thanks for that reassurance, Winry. It's just that there are times when you and Pinako seem so distant that it feels like I'm not wanted."

Winry's expression grew sad as she shook her head. "It's not you, don't worry."

From her expression, Sciezka quickly realized why they were acting the way they were. She was about to apologise before Pinako Rockbell's voice rang out.

"Girls, dinner's ready! Come on down before it gets cold!"

Winry cheered happily as she quickly recovered. "Come on, let's go!" She said, grabbing Sciezka's wrist and dragging her downstairs to eat, ignoring the other woman's protests.

* * *

Liore, still recovering from the Philosopher's Stone incident, now had more to clean up after the experimental invasion by Germany.

The people of Liore were thankful that another member of the military was placed in charge of the cleanup.

Major Alex Louis Armstrong was asked not to join in by his superiors, after complaints were filed against him for his 'unique style' when it came to repairing the city.

Rose Thomas sighed as she watched the crews work. She looked over at the food and drink bar where she had first encountered the Elric brothers.

The gaudy golden statue of Major Armstrong gleamed in the sun, forcing her to shade her eyes. The glare tricked her eyes into thinking she could see the Elrics walking towards her.

Hope welled up inside of her until her eyes adjusted. Disappointment threatened to overwhelm her as she realized it was only a couple of workers hired to help with the cleanup effort. Tears began to form at the corners of her eyes until she felt a small hand grab hers, causing her to look down at her son.

"Mommy, can you come play with us?" Her son asked, looking up at her worriedly.

She smiled and nodded. "Of course I will. Lead the way."

Ed's words echoed in her mind as she remembered when he told her to stand on her own.

She willed herself to know the Elrics were never coming back. She knew that she had to move past them for her sake, and for the sake of her son. She laughed as her son pulled her along.

Several kids joined them as they ran, making sure to stay clear of the ruined center of town.

* * *

The assembly had already been kept busy after Roy Mustang's coup d'etat. However; they had been forced into overdrive after the invasion of Germany.

The official story laid out by the assembly, and agreed on by everyone involved in the coup, was that Bradley had been paid off by one of the other nations to aggravate the neighbouring states. His betrayal also included the weakening of Amestris' army and its people, in order to allow for invasion by this unnamed state.

Bradley's secretary was an agent of the state in question sent to keep an eye on Bradley while he carried out his operation, but her true name was never revealed.

Brigadier General Maes Hughes had discovered the plot, and was killed before he could alert anyone to what was happening. Roy Mustang, Edward Elric, and others implicated by Bradley as traitors had also discovered the plot and were working to stop him. The assembly branded them as heroes, allowing Roy and the others to return to active duty without fear of persecution.

General Hakuro, after a two year leave of absence, finally resigned and left the military one General short. It was presumed he had ducked beneath the grid to avoid the scrutiny he was facing from an investigation. The investigation had been initiated against several top ranking officials of the military, in regards to their activities under Fuhrer Bradley. So; when Roy requested to be returned to Central Headquarters, they immediately bumped his rank up from Brigadier General to a full General.

They left him in charge of running the reconstruction effort, while they focused on issues that still continued to be of concern to them, including helping the Ishbalans recover from the damage inflicted under Fuhrer Bradley's rule.

They offered some representative positions on the assembly for the Ishbalans, in order to help try and restore the trust that Bradley had destroyed. Unfortunately, none of the Ishbalans had come forward to take the positions so far. However; the Ishbalan leaders told the assembly that, if they continued the good faith they had begun, then Ishbal and its people would forgive the military for following a man like Bradley so blindly.

With the return of the assembly, they promised that war would become a foreign concept. They only hoped that the aggravation Bradley caused to the neighbouring states wouldn't boil over. For the first time in years; Amestris had finally discovered true peace within itself.

* * *

Edward Elric carefully set the uranium bomb in a cloth bag, warily watching the unconscious forms of the guards to make sure none of them woke up.

"Don't worry, brother. I doubt they'll be waking up any time soon. Noah hits really hard." Alphonse Elric said, smiling nervously at the woman who was this world's equivalent of Rose.

Noah held a thick stick she had acquired outside, which was now spattered with blood from the impacts to the guards' heads.

"That's true… Come on; let's get out of here before they do wake up," Ed said as he pulled the strings tight on the bag.

It had been easy to discover the location of the bomb once Adolph Hitler had been arrested. It had been confiscated with his personal effects and was taken to a secure warehouse location once the German government realized that it was a bomb.

Noah nodded as she threw the stick into a fire that was set up in the corner of the room to keep the guards warm.

"In two different worlds, you've cause us a lot of trouble." Ed growled in irritation at the bomb as they ran out of the warehouse and found a safe place to hide.

"So; what are we going to do with it, brother?" Al asked, warily glancing at the bag that Ed was gingerly holding.

"I don't know. Maybe we could drop it in the ocean and let the pressure deal with it. Or we could deconst-" He froze as he realized what he had begun to say. Ed shook his head. "There I go, thinking we're still back home…"

Noah shook her head. "We'll figure it out later; we should put some distance between us and the warehouse in case they start fanning out and searching for us."

Al nodded in agreement. "If worse comes to worse, we can find some place that's uninhabited and bury it so that nobody can find it."

Ed and Noah agreed as they ran out from their hiding spot. Ed pulled out a gun he had been carrying, just in case they ran into any trouble.

Germany was far worse off than Amestris, and he knew it had become a kill or be killed society, especially with how desperate Germany's people had become…


	2. Chapter 1: Germany

Chapter 1: Germany

As clocks in both worlds ticked away, a year had come to pass to a now familiar scene on a German road…

"Are you certain this is the right way, brother? We've been driving for hours now and there hasn't been a sign of a single town." Alphonse asked worriedly as he sat in the back of the car with Noah.

"Of course I'm sure, Al! The map we checked after we left that last town said if we take this road, we'd run into the next town!" Edward turned to look back at his brother.

"Brother!" "Ed!" Al and Noah yelled as a herd of cows made their way onto the road, forcing Ed to turn the wheel quickly and send the car into a ditch.

"Ed…"

"Don't start, Al." Ed grumbled as he wiped blood from his forehead before getting out of the car to inspect it. "Well, the damage isn't too bad, but it's still not repairable with what we have with us… Come on, we're going to have to walk the rest of the way."

Al and Noah sniggered as they grabbed their bags and joined Ed on the side of the road, waiting for the cows to move.

"The third accident since we disposed of the Uranium bomb… who would have thought my brother was such a bad driver?" Al muttered to himself.

"I wonder if the farmer would be kind enough to give us some milk…" Noah wondered idly, jumping in surprise as Ed's irritated muffled yells could be heard from behind her. Turning, she couldn't help but laugh as Al had Ed's mouth covered as he tried to yell something.

"Sorry Noah, I guess you didn't know that Ed hates milk. Maybe we can ask for a ride instead." Al said as Ed calmed down.

He had been trying to get his anger in check, but three topics burned deep into his subconscious still triggered his anger, and milk was one of them.

* * *

A half an hour passed before the farmer appeared, finally realizing his cows were missing. "I'm so sorry about that… They must have broken the fence again. Are any of you injured?" The farmer asked worriedly when he saw their car in the ditch as the cows mingled around casually.

"That's fine. We're not hurt. We were just wondering if you could give us a ride to the nearest town." Ed said dismissively. He ignored the strange look the farmer gave him as he said they weren't hurt while wiping blood from his forehead again.

The farmer shrugged. "Well, I do need to get new fencing material. Those damn cows keep breaking the fence and I don't know how. However, the place where I get it is still a ways away from the nearest town. I can take you to there, but you'll have to walk the rest of the way."

Al nodded. "That's fine; we're used to walking long distances."

Noah and Ed nodded in agreement as the farmer looked at them worriedly.

"All right then, can you please help me round up my cows so we can be on our way faster?"

They agreed and began rounding up the cows. Upon finishing with the cows, the farmer kept his promise and allowed them to ride in the back of his truck to the store where his fencing supplies were.

* * *

With the sun beginning to set, Noah sighed in relief as they entered the town. Even though she had learned to travel long distances on foot with the boys, it was still exhausting for her, especially with nightfall so close at hand. "Well, what should we do now that we're here?" She asked, looking at the brothers as they examined their new surroundings.

"Well first, we should see about finding some food. We haven't eaten all day and I know you two are hungry because I could hear your stomachs growling ever since we left the farmer." Ed said. He grinned as Al and Noah blushed, knowing what he said was true.

"We'll also need to look into picking up some odd jobs around this town, starting tomorrow. What we have may not last beyond this town if prices keep going up." Al said as he looked at the wallet he was carrying with concern.

Ed and Noah nodded as they too checked their own finances.

"We can at least get two rooms at an inn for the night and very small meals for tonight and tomorrow morning." Noah said sadly as she looked at the brothers' wallets.

"It looks like we'll be camping out again." Ed said, shaking his head.

"It's a good thing Teacher sent us to that island before training. Who would have thought we'd end up needing those skills?" Al asked as Ed nodded distractedly.

"What is it, Ed?" Noah asked, noticing his inattentiveness.

Ed blinked, looking at them. "I smell food. Come on, let's go eat and then turn in for the night. We'll figure out what we're doing tomorrow."

Noah and Al nodded as they followed Ed in search of where the smell was coming from.

* * *

Ed sighed in exhaustion as he allowed himself to fall onto the bed. He immediately regretted that decision.

The inn they had chosen was the cheapest one they could find, and the beds were as hard as rocks.

He winced as he sat up, looking out the window. "Damnit, these beds remind me of those carriages back home."

"Well, with what we paid for two rooms, I'm surprised we're not sleeping on a floor in somebody's basement."

"True. This actually isn't half bad considering the state of things…" Ed said, looking around the room.

Suddenly, a strange sensation came over him and he became really dizzy, forcing him to grab the nightstand beside his bed and hold his head trying to keep himself steady.

"Brother!" Al yelled worriedly as he grabbed Ed to help.

"I'm all right now, thanks Al." Ed said, shaking his head to try and clear it.

"What happened?"

"I don't know, but it felt like something was messing around in my head." He frowned. "Whatever it was, it's gone now. Come on, Al. We've got a long day ahead of us and we should get as much rest as these beds will allow."

Al watched his brother worriedly as he lay down and closed his eyes. Once he felt Ed really was all right, he lay down and went to sleep himself.


	3. Chapter 2: Trouble Stirs Again

Chapter 2: Trouble Stirs Again

The same year had passed in Amestris. However, much had changed. The cleanup efforts in Liore and Central were near completion thanks to the enlistment of State Alchemists and other Alchemists who had volunteered their services. Ishbal and its people refused the aid of Alchemists, and the assembly honoured its wishes to rebuild using its own people and methods. Amestris appeared to be finally on the road to a full recovery…

Winry sighed as she fixed Den's automail leg. "If it's not crawfish, it's rabbits. Den, what am I going to do with you?" She said, checking the dog's paw mechanism. "All right, you're good to go. Just please stop chasing rabbits down their holes, okay boy?" Winry asked. She received a happy bark and a wagging tail in response before Den ran back to the house.

Sciezka smiled as she walked over to Winry, who sat to enjoy the view of the lake.

"I heard you got a phone call from General Mustang. What was it about?"

Sciezka blinked before blushing slightly. "He asked me to return to Central and take up a job with the Investigations Department again. Apparently they finally got a new person to permanently run the department and they requested my help. He told the department head that I know the department like the back of my hand!" She said, moping over Roy's overconfidence of her skills.

Winry smiled as she put a hand on Sciezka's shoulder. "General Mustang trusts you because Mr. Hughes trusted you. It's a great opportunity, and you can return home to your books. You keep saying how much you miss them. You'll do great, I'm sure you will."

Sciezka smiled. "Thanks Winry, you always seem to know what to say to help me feel better."

"It comes from years of experience dealing with the likes of Ed and Al…" Winry's smile faded as she wondered about how they were doing.

"Winry, can you come with me?" Sciezka asked, hoping to snap Winry out of her thoughts of the brothers.

Winry blinked as she looked at Sciezka. "Of course I will, Sciezka. Let's go pack now."

Sciezka let out a cheer as she and Winry ran back to the house.

* * *

A soldier burst into Roy's office, panting in exhaustion.

"What's wrong?" Riza snapped as Roy stood to meet the soldier.

"General Mustang, the assembly needs to speak with you immediately."

"All right, I'll go now. Captain Havoc, look after him." Roy snapped as he walked swiftly out of the room with Riza right behind him.

Havoc saluted Roy's back before letting out a sigh as his arm dropped. "I hope it ain't bad news…" He muttered as he shook his head.

Roy charged down the hall at a fast pace, causing Riza to trot to keep up with him.

"What do you think it could be about, General?" She asked worriedly.

"I don't want to think about it. I have a feeling that the assembly's cover story may have just gained more weight though…" Roy said. His voice and expression were calm, but inside he was just as worried as Riza was.

Their military was still very weak and it couldn't properly handle any attacks from neighbouring states at this time.

Riza froze outside the doors to the assembly's meeting room, knowing he would be all right by himself.

Roy glanced back at her with a quick nod before entering.

* * *

The Director of Military Operations silently motioned for Roy to be seated at the end of the table where the other assemblymen sat waiting for him.

Roy sat quietly, noting the expressions of concern and fear on the assemblymen's faces. "What's wrong, sirs?" He asked after it was clear they were not planning on speaking first.

The head of the assembly sighed, looking at the Director of Military Operations who shook his head. "Well General Mustang, since Director Giles won't tell you, I guess it's up to me…"

"Director Johnson? What is going on?" Roy asked. Concern now had wormed its way into his voice. Director Giles usually only refused to speak when it was bad news.

"We've received reports that the state to the west has begun to assemble troops. They plan on launching an assault on us soon."

"What?" Roy yelled in shock, slamming his hands on the table as he stood up. "We've always had good relations with the western state! Bradley never bothered to stir up any trouble with them, so there should be no reason for them to attack us!"

"Sit down, General." Director Giles snapped.

Director Johnson raised a hand to keep Director Giles from saying more. "His reaction is understandable, Giles. After all, he would know what Bradley did and didn't do."

Director Giles nodded in understanding as he resumed his silence.

Roy sat, apologizing for losing his composure. "That's perfectly understandable General. However, we called you here so that you can head the defence effort. You have the most recent combat experience of all the Generals and you can handle your men well. If you accept this, we will make sure to clear all the red tape usually associated with large scale operations. We need to move fast to stop them from getting too far into our state." Director Johnson's tone was grave, but there was a hint of desperation too.

Obviously he didn't want the public to worry that the assembly was heading in the same direction as Fuhrer Bradley had.

Roy knew the Director was right, they had to move fast. "All right, I will lead our forces into battle against the western state. I refuse to see our state crumble just as we're getting back on our feet." He growled.

Director Johnson smiled as he nodded. "That's just what I wanted to hear, General Mustang. You're dismissed to begin preparations."

Roy saluted the assembly before turning to leave.

* * *

Riza waited patiently outside the room until Roy walked out of it, setting the same pace as before. "What happened, sir?" She asked. She was worried when she saw the expression on his face.

"We're going to war. The western state has decided to take advantage of our weakened state."

Riza paled. "I can't believe it…"

He nodded. "I couldn't at first, but I intend to defend our borders with all my strength."

She smiled. "I'm coming with you."

Roy looked at her, but he wasn't surprised. "I knew you would say that. I won't bother trying to stop you because I know it would be no good."

"It's about time you learned that, General." She said as they entered his office.

"Second Lieutenant Fuery, Second Lieutenant Falman, I need you to go and track down lists of all soldiers that are available for combat immediately or within the next few days. First Lieutenant Breda, I need you to get a list of all available State Alchemists that can utilize long range transmutations. Captain Havoc, I want you to go to Liore and bring Lieutenant Colonel Armstrong back here."

Havoc and the others looked at him in surprise. "What's wrong, General?" He asked.

"The western state is on the move and they're heading straight for us. We're to meet them at the border and turn them back." They looked at him in shock. "You have your orders, now move!" He snapped, causing them to jump and leave the room quickly.

Once out of the room, Havoc tried to switch tasks with one of the others, but all of them refused, preferring their tasks over having to fetch Armstrong.

"What do you want me to do, sir?" Riza asked as Roy slumped into his chair, scratching Black Hayate's ear as he rested his head on Roy's knee.

"Notify the right people that we'll need those admission tents set up, and get the paperwork ready. I might as well get it started now…" He said. There was a slight sulk in his tone over having to do paperwork.

Riza nodded and left, shutting the office door behind her to deter him from leaving.

"I almost wish Fullmetal was here so I could take my frustrations about this situation on him…" He said to Black Hayate, who licked his hand in response. "Heh, I said almost…" His tone had taken on amusement as he looked out the window to the streets below.


	4. Chapter 3: Preparing for War

Chapter 3: Preparing for War

Winry and Sciezka were caught off guard by how crowded the train station was as they got off the train in Central. "I wonder what's going on…" Winry said worriedly.

"Hey! There's Lieutenant Ross!" Sciezka said, pointing out the uniformed woman.

As they approached her, she noticed them and frowned. "What are you two doing here? You shouldn't have been allowed on the train." She said sternly.

"We're here at the request of General Mustang." Sciezka said shyly.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know." Maria Ross said, blushing slightly.

"Can you tell us what's going on? Civilians were booted off the train a few stops ago and a bunch of soldiers got on. We managed to stay on the train by saying we were requested by General Mustang." Winry asked, frowning. Ross' partner Denny Bloch appeared beside her.

"Unfortunately, we're going to war with the western state."

Winry and Sciezka paled as he told them what was happening.

"Come on, if you were requested by General Mustang, we'll have to hurry. He's in the midst of preparations so he probably won't have much time to see you." Ross said, leading them out of the train station.

"Are you two going?"

"Heck no, we were lucky and were stationed at Headquarters in case the enemy sent a stealth team in to kill the assembly." Bloch said, shaking his head as they entered the filled streets of Central.

* * *

Roy yawned in boredom as Riza passed him another stack of papers. "What are these papers for?" Roy moaned. He knew his dislike for paperwork would increase significantly after this war.

_Maybe I can hire somebody to do it for me…_ He thought idly.

"They're from the hospital, sir. The hospital requests your signature so that the soldiers who are sent back to Central can be brought in for care immediately."

Roy sighed as he began signing the papers. "I really wish they didn't have papers for every little thing…"

"Just because you wish they didn't sir, doesn't mean the papers will go away." Riza said sternly before Ross entered.

"What is it, Lieutenant?" Riza asked as she watched Roy to make sure he signed every sheet of paper.

"Sciezka and Winry are here to speak with you, sir."

Roy looked up, secretly grateful for the distraction, and nodded. "Bring them in."

Ross nodded and vanished into the corridor.

Winry and Sciezka entered, bidding goodbye to Ross and Bloch as they went back to their duties.

Roy locked his fingers together and looked at Sciezka from behind them. "Well?" He asked simply, already knowing why she was here.

Sciezka blinked in surprise at him. "I, uh… I've come to accept the job offer, sir." She said after an uncertain glance at Winry, who merely nodded.

"That's great, Sciezka. However, I have another request for you before you start with Investigations… if it's all right with you, of course."

Sciezka nodded. "As long as it doesn't involve going to the war zone, I will do anything."

Roy nodded in understanding. "That's fine. I just need you to be a head counter, of sorts, for the hospital. They requested some personnel for that, but I can't spare anyone."

Sciezka paled slightly at the prospect of having to see all the injured soldiers enter.

"If you don't want to do it, that's fine. I can see if somebody else is available."

Sciezka shook her head fervently. "I'll do it, General."

Roy sighed in relief. "Thank you Sciezka. You're dismissed."

Sciezka shot a quick look at Winry before leaving.

"Winry, I know you came here to support Sciezka, but I have a request for you as well." Roy said grimly.

Winry nodded. "As soon as I heard about the war, I had a feeling you'd ask for my help."

"We'll pay you well for your services, you can be sure of that."

"I wouldn't doubt it, General. Just please promise that all of you will return safely." Winry said, glancing at the empty desks where his subordinates usually sat.

Roy nodded. "I'll do my best, Winry."

Winry waved to Riza before leaving to catch up with Sciezka.

"Please get back to your paper work, sir." Riza said as Roy began staring out the window.

"I know, but the thought of over two hundred State Alchemists going into battle against a state that doesn't bother with Alchemists is a bit troubling…"

Riza frowned. "The last scouting report marked the western army at over three thousand. So far, our soldier count is well below that. The State Alchemists put us on a more even playing field; you should know that better than anyone General."

Roy sighed. "I know, Captain, I know…" He sighed again as she shoved the papers he needed to sign in front of him.

"Let's get back to work, sir."

After a few mutterings under his breath, Roy resumed filling out his paperwork.

* * *

After only a few days of preparation, Roy stood before the army that would defend Amestris' border. He winced slightly at how small it seemed when he compared it to the army that Colonel Archer had led to slaughter in Liore. He glanced at Brigadier General Adran who stood beside him.

He was selected by Director Giles to be his second, and Roy instantly disliked him. Roy could tell the man was a mix of Basque Grand and Frank Archer, the two men he hated almost as much as Pride. Right now, Director Giles was speaking, but he didn't care for what the Director was saying.

Finally, the Director turned it over to Roy.

"I have watched our state go through hell under the traitor Bradley's rule. I hated being unable to do anything until it was almost too late, but I'll be damned if I'm going to stand by and let some other state think they can waltz in and take over!"

Cheers of agreement met his opening statement.

"However, I will not allow this state to take the blame for starting another war." Dead silence of shock met his words.

Director Giles glared at him in warning, which he ignored.

"Just because reports have stated that the western army is on the move, it could only be a show of power. Armies had done that before and this could be no different. We will answer that show with one of our own. If they do attack, the blame will fall to the western state, not to us."

Several experienced soldiers nodded in agreement.

"Many civilians still don't trust the military, even with Bradley gone. Let's prove to them that the military is different now, that we will fight to protect our people instead of fighting to destroy them." He noticed the Brigadier General's scowl, which only confirmed his suspicions about the man.

"It's time to move out. Let's show anyone who thinks we'll just roll over and let them take over that they're dead wrong!"

The cheers returned before the soldiers broke up to head for the transport vehicles.

Director Giles and Brigadier General Adran walked up to him as he began making his way to the vehicle he was assigned.

"Bold speech, General, but I don't care for your line of thought." Adran said, frowning.

"I don't believe the 'wait and see' approach is the best way to go, no matter what Director Johnson thinks of you." Director Giles chimed in.

"I was put in charge of this operation by Director Johnson. If you have a problem with my methods, then take it up with him." Roy snapped as he climbed into the vehicle with the rest of his team.

"No sign of Captain Havoc or Lieutenant Colonel Armstrong?" He asked, ignoring the two men who stood outside the vehicle.

"Not yet, General… We believe they'll meet us at the compound, though." Riza said as she looked over her gun.

Roy nodded as he motioned for the driver to take off.

Adran cursed as he jumped into the vehicle just as it took off, following the procession of soldier laden vehicles.

Fuery and Breda sat between Roy and Adran after sensing Roy's irritation of the man.

"I hope we can end this as soon as possible…" He muttered as he stared out the front of the truck.


	5. Chapter 4: A Tempting Proposal

Chapter 4: A Tempting Proposal

Ed prodded at the fire to keep it burning as Noah and Al slept soundly in a forest clearing. His eyes began to close as exhaustion threatened to overwhelm him. He had a weird feeling that something had followed them from Gurshberg, the town where he had experienced that strange episode of dizziness.

"My, my… you have certainly come a long way from Gurshberg; it took me a while to track you down again." A familiar voice called out from the dark trees.

Ed was suddenly wide awake as his head snapped towards where the voice seemed to originate.

_It can't be… Forget the fact that they're all dead, they couldn't exist on this side of the gate even if…_

His eyes widened as Lust stepped into the clearing. Even though Lust had been their ally before she died, his hand automatically reached for his gun. He froze as her extended nails appeared on either side of his neck.

"I am not who you think I am. I have no intention to harm you so long as you do not try to go for that weapon." She said.

As Ed took his hand away from his gun, the nails vanished.

"I had a feeling we were being followed, I just didn't expect it to be by a homunculus." Ed growled as he stood to face Lust.

Noah's scream announced that she had awoken; her scream startled Al to waking as both stared at Lust.

"I thought you said Lust was dead…" Al said weakly as shock began to set in.

Lust raised her hand to cut off Ed's answer. "I am a homunculus, but I am not the homunculus known as Lust. I merely took her form. I had a feeling about you boys ever since you entered Gurshberg, where I had been hiding for many years, and so I examined your mind to see why I felt that way." The homunculus said, looking at Ed intently.

"So you're the reason my brother was dizzy?" It simply nodded in response to Al's question.

"I have no form of my own, so…" Suddenly Lust melted into Pride, which forced gasps of shock to come from the humans. "I decided to use the forms of those I had seen in your mind to approach you. I knew I would be faced with the reaction I just received from you, Edward, but I had no other options available to me."

"Why are you here?" Ed snapped, cutting off any more explanations from it.

The homunculus looked at Ed. "I came to offer you a proposal that I have a feeling you would be interested in."

Ed's eyes narrowed as it spoke. "What kind of proposal could a homunculus possibly offer us that we'd be interested in?"

"A proposal that can see you returned to your world." The homunculus answered, responding in the same tone as Ed.

Al stepped in between Ed and the homunculus, holding his hand out in warning to Ed. "Calm down, Ed. This homunculus feels different from the ones back home. I think we can trust it."

"Fine, I'll listen to what it has to say." Ed growled as the homunculus melted again, turning into Greed as it motioned them back towards the fire.

Al pushed Ed back closer to the fire before they all sat, waiting to hear what the Homunculus had to say.

* * *

"So how come you can summon the Gate on both sides and still be unaffected by it?" Al asked after the homunculus told them it could open and close the Gate long enough for them to return home.

"I was created on this side, by the man your father quietly replaced when the transmutation failed and claimed his life."

Ed slapped his automail hand against the ground in irritation. "How can that be? Alchemy doesn't work on this side!"

The homunculus stared flatly at him. "You should know how, you have done it once before." It said, causing Ed to frown at it. "Since you do not seem to be aware of what you did, a transmutation can be activated by the blood of a gifted person on this side. My creator was one such gifted person, but because I was born on this side, I had no form. To compensate for that, it seems I have been granted the ability to open the Gate without coming to harm."

Ed paled as he finally realized what the homunculus was talking about, but lost whatever he was going to say as the homunculus shifted to the form of Sloth.

"I am aware how the homunculi on the other side had treated you, and I understand your distrust in me, however I humbly ask that you consider my offer. No matter how hard you have tried, you know that you cannot fit in with this world."

Ed and Al looked at each other with guarded expressions. Neither brother could find any arguments against its words.

Noah remained silent throughout the conversation, staring into the fire as she secretly hoped they would turn down the homunculus' offer.

"We'll think about it." Ed finally said as the homunculus shifted to Envy.

"That is fine by me. I will stand watch now, so you can all rest. I promise I will keep anything that may do you harm away."

Al nodded as he laid down, telling Ed and Noah to do the same before falling back to sleep.

Noah and Ed followed his lead grudgingly, although it took much longer for them to fall asleep.

The homunculus nodded as they laid down, melting into nothing to provide a hidden watch.

* * *

As they travelled along, Ed and Al began to constantly separate from Noah and the homunculus under the guise of looking ahead for people.

The homunculus had been confined to Pride and Greed, the least suspicious of the homunculi in this world, and was strolling along leisurely as Greed on one such occasion that the brothers went ahead.

Noah always remained silent until the brothers returned, walking ahead of the homunculus and maintaining a fair distance between them.

There was always an air of resentment that hung heavily around her until the brothers came back. This time, she froze and turned suddenly to face the homunculus with a mixed expression of determination and hatred for the creature.

"Why are you doing this?" She snapped.

A bewildered expression appeared on Greed's face before the homunculus removed Greed's sunglasses to stare down at the girl. "You have already heard my explanation, so why are you asking such a stupid question?" It had begun picking up the personality of the homunculus it looked like, much to the annoyance of the humans.

Noah fought the urge to slap the homunculus. Greed was definitely one of her least favourite of the homunculi that it chose to take the forms of. "They've become like a family to me, and now you want to take them away from me just because you feel they don't belong here? Where do you get off deciding something like that?"

The homunculus frowned at her. "I did not decide anything for them. I have been trailing you since Gurshberg, and I noticed the way they behaved when you are not looking. Though they have tried to blend in, the knowledge that they are outsiders constantly haunts them."

Noah looked at the ground, fighting back tears.

"It seems as though they are getting closer to an answer. I have a feeling it will be to go home."

Noah looked up at it furiously. "And what am I supposed to do without them? This world hates people like me! I'll be killed!"

"If you were to go with them, the girl who looks like you in their world would have to die. The solution I have is better: you will completely forget them. My homunculus ability, thanks to lacking a form, allows me to enter a human's mind and alter select nerve signals or chemicals to wipe out certain points of memory or completely replace it."

Noah paled in shock and horror at the prospect of losing her memories of the Elric brothers. "They won't leave if I tell them what you're planning to do to me!"

The homunculus raised its hand to cut her off. "I promise to ensure you are safely with another band before I do anything to you, so please keep your mouth shut until they have decided."

Noah turned and began walking away at a fast pace, putting some distance between them.

The homunculus shook its head as it replaced Greed's sunglasses and followed her.

* * *

Finally, Ed and Al came back into view. "There's a city up ahead." Al informed Noah as Ed continued past, grabbing Greed's vest and dragging the homunculus away.

Noah looked back at the homunculus as it donned Greed's smirk, causing her to look away in anger.

"So what is your answer?"

Ed frowned. "I should have known you would have figured it out…" He sighed, looking at Noah. "I know it'll hurt her to see us go, but you're right. No matter how hard we've tried, it's just too hard to try and fit in to this world. When we reach the city, we'll spend some time saving up some money. After that, we'll figure out a plan on how to get home."

The homunculus nodded. "That sounds quite reasonable. I will take care of Noah after you two have gone to ensure she finds safety."

Ed blinked in surprise. He hadn't expected such an offer from the homunculus. "Thanks." He said simply before leaving the homunculus to speak with Noah and Al.

"You made a very good choice, Edward…" The homunculus muttered sadly as it sped up slightly to catch up.


	6. Chapter 5: War

Chapter 5: War

Roy winced as he tried to hold a pen to sign a few requisition forms. He had been taking two shifts for every one of the other State Alchemists to conserve their energy, so his fingers were sore from snapping to generate the sparks for his flame alchemy.

Two months had passed since the western state started waging war with Amestris, with no end in sight.

"Are you going to be all right, General?" Armstrong asked as he entered the tent they had set up as their headquarters.

"I'll be fine; don't worry about me, Lieutenant Colonel. I must admit, I'm glad you asked your sister to send some of her troops down to help us. They've been doing the most damage so far."

Armstrong nodded. "It wasn't that hard to convince her once she learned of what was happening." He noticed Roy's awkward attempt at writing. "Might I suggest using Captain Havoc's matches for the next time you enter battle?"

Roy smiled at Armstrong. "I should, it would be fitting punishment for him. He took far too long in getting to Liore; it started to piss me off waiting for you two."

Armstrong nodded and was about to speak before Fuery entered the tent.

"Sir, Brigadier General Adran has returned from his scouting mission." He said before being pushed roughly aside by Adran.

"I request that you stop pushing around my staff, Brigadier General." Roy had a dangerous tone in his voice as he watched Fuery pick up his glasses before quickly leaving the tent.

Adran ignored the veiled threat as he pointed to the map hanging on the wall. "The enemy's headquarters is located here. I can have a team assembled and ready to strike at any time, sir."

"No." Roy said, standing.

Adran frowned as he approached, examining the map. "Why? We can end this quickly if we take out their leaders!" He growled.

Roy held his hand up to silence Adran's protests. "I didn't mean we won't attack. I will go personally to end this. Too many of our people have died because of my inaction to this point, and I refuse to let that continue." Roy said sternly.

He ignored the protests of both Adran and Riza, who had been standing silently by the table the whole time.

"Don't worry, Hawkeye, I wouldn't leave you behind."

Riza's protests immediately ceased as she saluted him. "Thank you sir, I will watch your back."

"Lieutenant Colonel Armstrong, you're in charge until I return."

"I understand." Armstrong said, nodding slightly.

"I'm your second! I should be in charge!" Adran yelled.

Roy turned to face him with a frown. "Lieutenant Colonel Armstrong has more experience in battle. I trust his judgement and know he will make the right decision when the time comes." He turned back to Armstrong. "When the retreat is called, make sure to let them leave without a fight. I don't want us to be in the wrong for any reason."

Armstrong nodded as he followed Roy out of the tent, leaving an angered Adran behind.

"Fuery, Falman, Breda, Havoc!" He called out.

Almost immediately, his men were standing before him, saluting with Riza.

"Come on, we're going after their leader."

"Yes sir!" They answered.

"Good luck, Armstrong."

Armstrong flexed his muscles as pink sparkles appeared. "You can count on the strength of my lineage to pull our forces through this mess!"

Roy tuned out the rest of his speech as he and his team began to make their way out of the trenches, heading towards the ridge the State Alchemists were using to launch their attacks.

* * *

A young western soldier held a shaky gun aimed at Roy. He had accidentally stumbled on them as they slipped through enemy territory.

"Back off soldier, you don't want to do this…" Roy warned.

The soldier looked around at Roy's team, all of whom had their guns pointed at him. He didn't seem to realize what the unarmed man before him was and why his right arm was tensed as though he was ready to do something. "Y-you're the General in charge of the Amestris forces… I-I could get a big honour for taking you out…" The soldier was scared but had a determined look on his face.

"I'm warning you to back off. If you don't, you'll be killed before you can even think of pulling the trigger." Roy growled at the young man.

Again, the soldier looked at Roy's team, but this time he lowered his weapon and nodded.

"Good. Now… drop your weapon, leave the battlefield and return to your home."

The soldier blinked at Roy in surprise before setting his weapon on the ground, and turned to leave.

"Let's go." Roy ordered and resumed walking, his team following closely until a click was heard.

The soldier had picked up his gun and had it aimed directly at Roy's back.

In one swift movement, Roy turned and snapped his fingers.

The soldier had no time to react as his gun exploded. Screams of pain erupted from him as he collapsed to his knees, staring at his missing hands.

"You were warned." Roy said grimly before walking on.

"Why didn't you finish him off, sir?" Falman asked worriedly.

Roy smiled in amusement. "I don't know… I guess I must be going soft…"

The others looked at each other in surprise and confusion before following.

* * *

"That's odd… no guards…" Breda observed as they looked down at the tent that housed the western army's leaders.

"Keep a careful watch." Roy warned as they made their way carefully down to the tent.

There was a flurry of movement when they stepped into the tent as guns were drawn and aimed at each other from all directions.

"I had heard reports that you were coming. I must admit though that you came sooner than I expected." An older man said as he approached Roy. He was the only one without a weapon drawn as Riza aimed her gun at him warily. "You are quite outnumbered, General Mustang. If your personnel were to lower their weapons, mine will do the same. I know you came only to talk, so I shall listen."

Roy stared at the older man in surprise.

He chuckled at Roy's expression. "Don't be so surprised, General Mustang. Your reputation precedes you, and I know mine does too. I am General Musoline Harvend; now please get your personnel to lower their weapons."

Roy paled as he realized who he was facing. Musoline Harvend was well known amongst the Amestris military because he was a brilliant General and an honest man. "Do it." Roy said simply, ignoring the stares of shock from his team.

Riza nodded and lowered her gun warily.

Slowly, guns all around the tent were lowered as the two men stared at each other in silence.

"So, what brings you here?" Musoline asked after all the weapons were put away.

"I came to try and understand why the western state would suddenly start attacking. We have had many years of peace, even under the traitor Bradley's rule, so why attack us?"

Musoline sighed, shaking his head sadly. "I don't know, General. I wish I did, but I don't. It was very sudden, the order to attack Amestris, at least when it was announced. The king must have been deliberating on it for months before though."

"Then you must order your troops to retreat! Tell your king that we defeated you or something! Both of our armies are exhausted and this war could drag on for years if you don't do something!" Roy pleaded.

Musoline shook his head. "I am sorry General, but it isn't in my nature to retreat from battle no matter how trivial the reasoning behind it is. Besides, it is against the law to simply retreat unless it is ordered by the king."

Roy looked away from the older man in frustration.

Musoline stared at Roy's eye patch for some time before sighing. "My wife has been gone for two years now, and my children have all grown up and left me. I feel it is time to move on from this world…"

Roy looked at him in surprise, wondering what the older man was getting at.

"There is a loophole in that law, and it would satisfy both our needs."

"General, you don't mean…" A woman who stood near him asked worriedly.

Musoline nodded. "If you were to kill me, then command would fall to my second and he would be allowed to call a retreat. If we hurry, we could have a duel before my second returns and my third in command would be allowed to call the retreat. My second, unfortunately, has never been fond of Amestris and would refuse to retreat. My dear Colonel here has been opposed to the operation since it began, though, so she would willingly call the retreat. Am I right, dear?" He asked, looking at the woman, who nodded sadly.

Other soldiers in the tent looked at the General with equally sad expressions. It was obvious that they would miss being under his command.

Roy sighed. "If that's the only way that we can end this war, I've got no choice."

"And please try not to use your alchemy, Flame Alchemist." Musoline said slyly as Roy began walking out of the tent.

Roy looked back and smiled. "Of course I won't." He said as he left the tent, followed by his team.

"Everyone, you will go home and return to your families. It has been a pleasure serving with you."

The soldiers saluted him as he left the tent with the female Colonel following close behind.


	7. Chapter 6: Central

Chapter 6: Central

Winry sighed in exhaustion as she and Sciezka took advantage of the lull between incoming wounded. "How have things been going for you?" Winry asked.

"Well, not as bad as it probably has been going for you… I haven't seen a single State Alchemist come in yet, though, so that's good."

"Roy must be keeping them away from the main fight…" Winry said, shaking her head as she closed her eyes.

Sciezka went to follow her lead, but a nurse came in. "Miss Sciezka, there are more wounded being brought in. None of them are major injuries, so the doctors don't think they'll need your services, Miss Winry."

Sciezka let out a squeak of shock as Winry patted her back.

"Don't worry, maybe they'll finally send somebody to replace you soon."

Sciezka nodded sadly as she allowed herself to be lead away by the nurse.

Winry yawned as she lay down and fell asleep.

* * *

Ross and Bloch walked around Central headquarters as part of their patrol duty.

A few soldiers deep in conversation passed them. "So the war is at a stalemate?"

"That's what I heard… I think we'll be at war for a few good years before this is ended. General Mustang isn't as great as people say he is…"

Ross shook her head in disgust. "They have no clue what they're talking about. General Mustang is trying his hardest to keep the state from falling apart."

Bloch nodded. "Yeah, well it was partially his fault that we're in this position to begin with." He let out a yelp of pain as Ross stepped on his foot.

"Don't tell me you agree with them!"

"I didn't mean it the way it sounded! General Mustang did the state a service by bringing down Pri- I mean, Fuhrer Bradley, but the way he did it left the state pretty worse for wear."

Ross sighed, knowing he had some good points. "At least we know no matter what happens we can trust him with our lives."

Bloch nodded as they resumed their patrol.

"I wonder what happened to Ed and Al's father. He just seemed to vanish and nobody's seen him since…" Ross said idly, not noticing the pained expression on Bloch's face.

Bloch still had a tendency to overreact whenever Hoenheim was mentioned, though Ross was completely in the dark as to why.

"Come on, Bloch, we should continue our patrol." She snapped as she realized how much time they had wasted standing and talking.

Bloch snapped out of his stupor. "All right, I'm coming!" He said as he followed her quickly.

* * *

Black Hayate barked happily as he played with Elicia in the Hughes' front yard.

Gracia smiled as she watched them.

"Momma, when will Miss Riza be coming back for Black Hayate?" Elicia asked as she tossed a stick for him to fetch.

"I'm sure it will be soon, dear. But until she does, we'll make sure to take good care of him for her won't we?"

Elicia nodded happily as she ran off to play with Black Hayate, who wanted her to try and catch him.

Gracia sighed as she stared up at the sky. "All of you had better come back safely…" She muttered to herself. She blinked in surprise as Winry and Sciezka came up the walkway. "I thought you two were at the hospital?"

"I finally got relieved and none of the soldiers require any automail." Sciezka explained as she half-sat, half-collapsed beside Gracia.

"You two had better get some sleep then. You can rest here if you'd like. I know it's quite a distance to your home, Sciezka, and the hotel you're staying in is even farther, Winry."

"Thanks Gracia, we'll be glad to take you up on that offer. Mostly we just came to see how you and Elicia were doing, but I guess it wouldn't hurt to rest here." Winry said as she helped Sciezka stand up again.

"Elicia, come inside and help our guests get comfortable!" Elicia squeaked happily when she realized who the guests were and ran inside with Black Hayate to help her mother.

Gracia paused with them in the doorway. "Is there any news from the front lines?" She asked worriedly.

Sciezka and Winry could do nothing but shake their heads.

"The soldiers aren't allowed to say anything about what's happening just in case the west has spies lurking around the hospital." Sciezka explained.

Gracia nodded sadly. "I worry about Roy and the others. Not knowing how they're doing only makes it worse. It doesn't help that all of Central seems to be on edge. After all the pain and suffering the state and its people have gone through these past several years, I had hoped we had seen the last of war…"

"Don't worry, no State Alchemists have come in to the hospital, so I'm sure General Mustang and the others are fine. With General Mustang in charge, you can be sure he will try to end the war as soon as he can."

Gracia nodded as she motioned for the girls to enter. "I'll have some food ready for you when you wake up."

Winry and Sciezka gleefully thanked Gracia before being led upstairs by Elicia to their rooms.


	8. Chapter 7: Homeward Bound

Chapter 7: Homeward Bound

Ed sighed in exhaustion as the sun set on what they hoped would be their final day in Germany. "Well Al, tomorrow we're going home…"

As the clock ticked down, it became harder for the brothers to hide their excitement of the prospect that they would really be going home once and for all.

Al nodded as they headed away from the city.

To save the money they had earned from odd jobs, they camped out at the location where they had been piecing together the rocket powered car that would help them get home.

"Are you sure the car we got will hold together long enough to get us safely through the Gate?"

"It should…" Ed said warily as Pride appeared from the bushes lining the road, chuckling at the looks on the brothers' faces.

"You do not need to worry. The trip is very short and the engine will be rendered useless as soon as you are on the other side. With how light the car is, you should be through the Gate in no time."

"I just hope those things that live within the Gate don't get us." Ed said, frowning at the homunculus.

The homunculus frowned and nodded. "Yes… the Gate Children are beyond my control. However, you will be going too fast for them to touch you. Do not worry."

Ed muttered something inaudible under his breath as they entered the abandoned farmer's field that had become their hideaway.

Noah nodded to them as they entered. She had kept her feelings about the issue of losing the brothers quiet.

The homunculus had occasionally offered support for her, but she continually refused it and the homunculus finally gave up trying.

"Here…" Ed said, holding out money to Noah.

"We won't need any tomorrow, so you can keep our share." Al said as he held out his money to her.

Noah looked at them sadly before taking their money without saying a word.

"I'll look over the car one more time before we take off tomorrow, just to be on the safe side." Ed said as he lay down to sleep.

Al followed his brother's lead, knowing Ed would want to leave as early as he could.

The homunculus shifted to Sloth once it was sure they were asleep. "Noah, you should not hide your feelings from them, even if you know it will not change their minds."

Noah shook her head furiously. Sloth seemed to be the form that Noah felt most comfortable with, even to the point where she would slip up and start sharing her feelings with the homunculus. "There's no point… I've seen the way they've been acting ever since that car was finished… They can't wait to go. I don't want them to have second thoughts about going. Besides, you said you'd make me forget them, didn't you?"

The homunculus nodded. "Once I find a band worthy of you, I will alter your memories to completely forget them."

"Well then, there's no reason for them to carry around any guilt about leaving me when I won't remember who they are."

"I understand… however, if you want to see them off, I suggest you get some rest. I know they will want to leave early."

Noah blinked in surprise before the homunculus melted into nothing. "All right…" She said before curling up and closing her eyes for the night.

* * *

An expression of deep concentration was on Ed's face as he double checked the engine they had designed from the plans Alphons Heidrich's crew left in their care.

Al and the homunculus, now in the form of Wrath, sat and waited until he was done.

"All right, we're all set… as long as the car holds together."

"I'm sure it will, Ed. You've got to have more faith in the technology of this world."

Ed blinked in surprise as he noticed the absence of Noah's presence. "Where'd Noah go?"

"I will go find her!" The homunculus said, jumping up and running away.

"Are you sure we should leave her like this, Ed?" Al asked worriedly.

"I overheard the homunculus talking to Noah last night… it said it was going to erase her memories of us once it found a new band to take her in. There's no point in worrying about her if she won't remember us. It's better this way."

Al nodded in understanding before Noah and the homunculus, in the form of Sloth, returned.

"It's time for us to go…" The brothers looked at Noah sadly.

Noah smiled as she hugged Al quickly before hugging Ed, stepping back as Al went around the car and stood by the passenger side. "Take care of yourselves…" She said, trying to keep her sorrow hidden from them.

"Yeah, you too… You take care of her, homunculus or else…" Ed growled in warning as he stood by the driver's side.

The homunculus nodded. "Do not worry about her, boys, I promise to take excellent care of her… Now please get in the car and make sure everything is shut tight."

The brothers nodded as they got into the car, shutting the doors tightly.

"I will be back soon, Noah. Please step as far back as you can. The reach of the Gate Children is long, and that engine is powerful."

Noah nodded as the homunculus vanished, running away from the car to safety.

"Are you ready?" Envy's voice echoed within the car. Ed and Al looked at each other before nodding.

"Ready when you are…"

"All right…" Suddenly, the Gate appeared a fair distance away from the car.

"Let's go home, brother…" Al said, unable to hide the smile of joy as Ed hit the switch to activate the engine.

The car leapt forward into the waiting arms of the Gate Children, vanishing from sight.

Once the Gate was sealed, Noah allowed the tears to flow. She collapsed to her knees and buried her face in her hands, knowing she would never see the Elric brothers again.


	9. Chapter 8: A Fitting Return

Chapter 8: A Fitting Return

Roy and the others froze as screams erupted some distance away. "Falman, what's going on?"

Falman shook his head as he stood atop a small hill. "I'm sorry sir, I can't see anything."

Musoline frowned worriedly. "None of your alchemists can reach this far back, so there should have been no reason for that…" He shook his head. "Well, we cannot worry about that now. I want to end this as fast as you do."

Roy nodded as he took off his gloves, swapping them for Riza's gun.

Musoline nodded in understanding, knowing that Roy would feel tempted to use his alchemy if he wore them.

A man ran up to the gathered group, frowning at Roy before aiming his gun at him.

"Stand down, Miles." Musoline snapped.

The man looked at him in shock. "But sir, if we can kill him, we can crush their army!"

While the man was distracted, Riza grabbed her gun back from Roy and shot the gun from his hand.

Musoline approached him as he held his hand in pain. "We have agreed to a duel to decide how this war will end. Stand down or else I'll have you charged with insubordination."

Miles paled in fear as the Colonel took him to the safety of the hill where the others stood to watch.

Riza switched the clip in her gun to a fully loaded one and passed it back to Roy as Musoline checked his gun.

"Thanks, Captain. Now go watch with the others." Riza nodded warily. "I'll be fine, don't worry."

"Oh miss, if you could be so kind, can you please call the start for us?"

Riza blinked in surprise at Musoline, glancing at Roy who simply nodded. "Yes sir." Riza said, running off to the hill.

"You had better be a good shot, General Mustang. I may wish to leave this world, but I will not leave it easily."

Roy smirked in response to the amused grin Musoline was wearing. "Don't worry about that, I just hope you put up a good fight."

"Are you ready?" Riza called from the hill.

Roy saluted Musoline as a sign of respect for the older man, but was caught off guard when Musoline saluted him the same way.

"Don't be so surprised, General Mustang. I've spent some time alongside Amestris' military, so I know your salute. I felt it appropriate to use your salute in this situation."

Roy smiled as he nodded to Riza.

"I am ready too, Captain. Go ahead."

Riza nodded in understanding. The two men tensed as Riza began to count down. "Go!" She yelled as the two Generals began their duel…

* * *

The duel lasted only ten minutes before the others came down from the hill and surrounded an exhausted Roy as he stood looking over Musoline sadly.

Musoline chuckled in between coughs. "You put up a good fight, General Mustang… I am glad you didn't disappoint me…" He coughed some more as a small bit of blood trickled from his mouth. "Thank you all… now hopefully our states… can go back… to… being… allies…" His eyes widened in surprise and a smile crossed his face as Roy saluted him in the western style. His eyes closed and his head fell sideways as he died.

His Colonel covered him with her jacket, tears quietly rolling down her face.

After a few moments of silence, Roy turned to Miles. "Call the retreat now. We will head back to our encampment and begin pulling out as well." He said before turning to Riza to exchange her gun for his gloves.

The sound of a soft click had them freeze in mid-exchange. "I will never call a retreat. Amestris will fall here and now!"

"Not as long as I'm around!" A familiar voice called out.

Miles turned to see who spoke, when suddenly a blade flashed and he fell to the ground dead.

Everyone stared at the blood-covered blade before realizing who it belonged to.

Roy smirked as Ed transmuted the blade back into his ordinary automail arm. "It's about time you showed up, Fullmetal."

"Of course, I had to save your ass from whatever mess you'd gotten yourself into." Ed said, returning his smirk.

Roy nodded to Al as he approached before turning to the kneeling Colonel. "I guess that means you're in charge…"

The Colonel nodded as she stood. "I'll call the retreat right away, sir. Thank you for ending this."

"All right, let's pull out." He ordered to his team.

They nodded as they began to retrace their steps.

"Coming?" He asked to Ed and Al before walking away without an answer.

Ed rolled his eyes as he and Al followed Roy.

The sound of something like a firework caused them to look back and see a flare sparkling in the sky.

"I guess that's their retreat method…" Roy said, shrugging casually as he continued. "There are many people who will be glad to see you've come back. I just figured I would give you that warning."

Ed and Al looked at each other in confusion as they wondered why Roy would consider it a warning.

* * *

"Major! You're… crushing… us…!" Al squeaked out as he and Ed were trapped in the crushing grip of Armstrong's embrace.

"Lieutenant Colonel, can you please release the Elrics?" Roy asked in amusement.

Armstrong blinked at Roy in surprise before nodding and letting the Elrics down.

Both brothers collapsed to their knees, gasping for breath.

"It is wonderful to see you two. I feared we would never see you again."

"You know how hard it is to get rid of these two." Roy said, smiling slyly down at them.

"Hah. He's right... uhm, Lieutenant Colonel? When did you get promoted?" Ed asked as they stood up.

Armstrong flexed his muscles, pink sparkles surrounding him as he did so, and began bragging about how he got his promotion.

Automatically, everyone tuned him out until he wound down.

"Sir, the western soldiers have all left, as have ours. We're the only ones remaining." Fuery said, worriedly.

"Don't worry, Fuery, the last transport can't leave without us." Roy said, patting him on the shoulder.

"Yeah, but just because they can't leave without us, doesn't mean they won't try to." Havoc said; speaking around a fresh cigarette he had placed in his mouth

"Brigadier General Adran went in the transport ahead of us, sir." Falman notified Roy as he returned from speaking with the driver of the transport.

"He's probably gone to complain to Director Giles." Roy said in amusement. "Come on, let's go. We'll catch up on the way back to Central." He motioned for Ed and Al to follow as he and his team walked away.

"Well it's good to know some things haven't changed, eh Al?" Ed asked in amusement. Al nodded.

"Yes it is. Let's go before General Mustang has the transport leave us behind."

"That bastard would too…" Ed growled as they ran to catch up.

* * *

Meanwhile, back in Central, Sciezka burst into the room that Winry had set up as her work room. "It's over! The news just came in! They're coming home! They did it!"

Winry stopped taking apart the automail leg she had been working on for a soldier who refused it. "Is it really over?" She asked. She didn't wait for Sciezka to reply before bursting into her own excited cheers.

"Miss Rockbell?" A nurse asked, peering into the room.

"That's me, what is it?" She asked, trying to calm herself down.

"I have an envelope addressed to you from Central Headquarters."

"They certainly move fast…" Winry muttered as she took the envelope from the nurse. She thanked the nurse, who quickly left to attend to her duties.

"What is it?" Sciezka asked as Winry ripped open the envelope and read the letter with an odd expression.

Suddenly, she collapsed into a chair as she stared at the small slip of paper the envelope contained.

"Winry, are you all right?" Sciezka asked worriedly.

"It's… my pay check… for services rendered to the military…" Winry squeaked out weakly as Sciezka took the slip of paper from her out of curiosity.

Suddenly, she too collapsed into another chair and stared at the slip. "Wow… I hope mines will be this big…" She said, passing it back to Winry.

"Come on! Let's go celebrate!" Winry said, recovering.

Sciezka nodded happily as the girls ran out of the room, leaving the messy workstation untouched.


	10. Chapter 9: Reunion

Chapter 9: Reunion

Almost as soon as word got out that the war was over, celebrations began throughout Central and the surrounding regions. A parade was hastily organized by the assembly for the people of Central to congratulate their soldiers on their successful defence of the western border.

Once the Elrics learned that Winry was in Central with Sciezka, they decided to lay low at General Mustang's residence. They figured it would be best to wait until the celebrations in Central were over before announcing to anyone that they had returned.

On the eve of the parade, Roy dropped some news on the brothers that had them staring at him in disbelief.

"What… do you mean… we're in the parade…?" Ed asked when he was finally able to speak again.

Sitting at the table, Roy smirked at them as he rested his head on his hand. "Somebody informed the assembly about your defeat of the western army's second after he made a threat on my life. The assembly considers you two as heroes, so they asked if you would be in the parade. I didn't think you two would mind, so I accepted on your behalf."

Ed glared at Mustang upon fully recovering. "You jerk… you told them on purpose…"

Al sighed worriedly. "Winry's going to kill us if she learns we've been hiding from her… maybe we shouldn't have."

"Don't worry, you two. Winry went home a few days ago, according to my sources. She had some business to attend to and wouldn't be returning for the parade." Roy lied casually. He was curious as to how Winry would react to the Elrics' return, so he decided to lie to lull the brothers into a false sense of security.

"Are you sure, sir?" Al asked nervously hoping he was right.

"I'm sure, Alphonse. My sources are very reliable." He yawned as he stood up. "Get some rest you two. We've got to be up early to get ready for the parade." He gave a backhanded wave as he went into his room, shutting the door behind him with one last smirk.

Ed sighed as he and Al set up their beds on the floor of Roy's living room. "That bastard set us up, I can't believe it. I had almost hoped he'd changed a bit in three years, but he really hasn't. Damnit…"

Al sighed. "There's nothing we can do about it now, brother. Just be thankful Winry won't be there to…"

The colour drained from their faces as they thought of what Winry would do to them if she learned they had been hiding from her all this time.

"G-good night… brother… Try to have peaceful dreams…" Al said shakily.

Ed could only nod in response as they tried to get some sleep.

* * *

Winry and Sciezka had fun cheering with the rest of the people gathered along the end of the parade route as it rolled past. "I've never seen a Central parade before! These are great! I should get Grandma to come next time!" Winry said as the last car with General Mustang, his second-in-command, and two others who looked as though they'd rather be somewhere else, passed by.

Despite Roy's protests, Ed and Al had disguised themselves to avoid recognition by people who knew them.

Sciezka blinked in confusion and curiosity. "Winry… those two in the car with General Mustang… didn't they look like Ed and Al?"

Winry blinked at her before trying to get a second look, although the car had already become obscured by the crowd. "I dunno, I must have missed them… but it couldn't have been them… Roy told me himself that they took that last air vessel and used it to go back to the other side to seal the Gate… He said they wouldn't have been able to get home ever again…"

"We should to the pavilion on the stairs to Central Headquarters just to be sure. Besides, we should cheer on General Mustang and the rest of them." Sciezka said, leading Winry over to the stairs of Central Headquarters.

* * *

At the stairs stood a large pavilion in which the leader of the assembly stood with Roy and his team, Adran, Armstrong, and the Elric brothers.

Winry and Sciezka found themselves a position where they could see what was happening. Thankfully, the crowd was so large that they wouldn't be recognised by the people onstage.

The deafening cheers were silenced when Director Johnson raised his hand. "I'm sorry to announce that Director Giles, our Director of Military Operations, could not join us in celebrating today. He has fallen ill, but sends his congratulations to our fine soldiers."

The section that had been designated for soldiers burst out in cheers before being silenced with another raise of his hand.

"Earlier, we honoured those that fell in battle and hope they are watching these celebrations with pride knowing their sacrifice helped protect Amestris from invasion." The crowd remained silent until he spoke again. "Now it is time to honour those that are responsible for this victory."

Cheers erupting from the crowd forced him to raise his hand to silence them again.

He chuckled. "It's good to know how appreciative Central's people are."

A few cheers were heard from random parts of the crowd.

"Without further ado… presenting the man who led our forces to victory: General Roy Mustang!"

Jeers, catcalls, and scorned boyfriends made themselves heard amongst the cheers of the crowd as Roy stepped forward.

Winry snickered at his bored, only slightly irritated expression. "He gets this sort of reaction every time, don't worry about it." She explained to Sciezka who looked around at the crowd in surprise.

Roy stepped back into line as Director Johnson introduced Roy's team, Brigadier General Adran, and Lieutenant Colonel Armstrong. "…And finally, we have the last minute heroes who saved General Mustang's life when it was threatened and helped put an end to this senseless war: Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist, and his brother Alphonse Elric!"

"See Winry, I told you it was… eeek!" Sciezka squeaked in fear as Winry produced a large wrench from her bag, a furious glare on her face as she threw it.

The wrench hit Ed square in the center of the forehead, knocking him backwards.

Al caught the wrench instinctively before helping Ed stand. Sweat broke out on both brothers as a look of terror appeared on their faces once they realized what it was that had struck Ed, both of them frozen in place by fear.

Roy smirked knowingly as he approached Director Johnson. "Director, there is a very mad woman in the crowds who wish these boys' lives. Can they be allowed to flee for their lives?" The amusement was hard to hide in his voice as Director Johnson broke out in laughter.

"That is perfectly fine with me, go on and flee for your lives." He said to the Elrics.

"We're going to get you back for this Mustang!" Ed yelled as they bolted off the pavilion and into the crowd.

"Those jerks!" Winry yelled as she produced another wrench and ran after them.

The crowd parted to let her through out of fear of the wrench.

* * *

Once they felt they were a safe distance away from Central Headquarters, Ed and Al collapsed from exhaustion in an alleyway. Their disguises had been shed as they ran, knowing they were no longer of any use.

"When did Winry get so fast…?" Ed grumbled as he rubbed his head.

"Are you all right, brother? She hit you pretty hard."

"I'm fine… what wrench was it?" He asked as curiosity took over.

"It's one of her larger ones… one of the ones you bought for her at Rush Valley. This is definitely one of the heavier wrenches you got for her, brother." Al said as he examined it.

"Great, one of the ones that'll leave a dent in my skull…" Ed grumbled. They stood to leave. Suddenly, panicked expressions crossed their faces when they heard panting at the entrance to the alley.

"You… jerks…" Winry growled as she tried to catch her breath, blocking the alley to prevent them from running. When she recovered, she walked towards them threateningly. "You came back and you never came to see me?" She growled as she put her hands on her hips, tears shining at the corners of her eyes.

Ed and Al looked down at the ground. "Sorry Winry, we figured it was better to wait until the celebrations around Central died down before coming to see you." Al muttered.

Winry shook her head. "You idiots… knowing you were back would have made the celebrations in Central more enjoyable."

"Besides, Mustang lied to us; he said you had gone home." Ed said, shaking his head.

Winry laughed. "So Roy wanted to see you get in trouble? Maybe he thought you deserved it for not coming to visit me when you returned from the west."

Ed and Al cringed at the thought.

Winry sighed, shaking her head before she hugged Al. "It's good to have you back…"

"It's good to be back, Winry." Al said, returning the hug while passing the wrench off to Ed, who could only look at his younger brother in confusion.

As they broke apart, she looked at him curiously. "Do you…?"

Al nodded. "I remembered everything as I passed through the Gate."

Winry smiled happily before turning to Ed, who held her wrench out while looking away. "I don't think you want to be losing this…" He said.

She nodded as she took the wrench from him before giving him a hug. "Thanks… welcome back. Try to stick around this time?" She asked into his chest.

He blinked down in surprise at her before nodding and returning the hug. "Don't worry, I will…"

She pulled away from him and turned to look out of the alley. "Come on you two, let's go back."

Ed and Al nodded, glad to know they were still alive as they followed Winry out of the alley.


	11. Chapter 10: Like No Time Has Passed

Chapter 10: Like No Time Has Passed…

The street in front of Central Headquarters was empty and the pavilion was gone, but Director Johnson, Roy and Riza still stood on the steps waiting for them.

Ed walked slightly ahead of Winry and Al, glaring at Roy.

Roy's eyes narrowed as he noticed Ed's left hand ball into a fist before it flew at him. Roy leaned sideways and dodged the punch easily. "You've gotten slow while you were away. I thought you were better than that Full-"

Out of nowhere, Ed's automail fist landed a blow, knocking Roy to the ground.

"General!" Riza shouted in shock as she went to check on him, but a raised hand made her freeze.

"I'm fine, Captain." Roy chuckled as he wiped away the blood that trickled from the side of his mouth, and stood with a smirk. "I should have known the left was a fake… Looks like you finally got to give me that fist to the face you kept saying you owed me."

Director Johnson shook his head as Ed returned Roy's smirk. "You two certainly have the strangest relationship I have ever seen in all my years…"

"You get used to it after a while, sir." Al said with a shake if his head.

"Well, I must get back to work. You should too General Mustang, there's a great deal of post-war paperwork waiting for your attention."

Roy nodded as Director Johnson went up the stairs. Once out of sight, Roy sighed, shaking his head. "Damn paperwork…"

Winry sighed. "Well, it's getting late; I'm going to head back to my hotel now."

Ed and Al nodded. "I guess we should get a room there now that we're no longer in hiding." Ed said.

Al bowed to Roy. "Thank you for letting us stay at your place."

"No problem. Now get going. I'll have your belongings sent to your hotel."

"How would you-?" Al was about to ask but was cut off by a gesture from Ed.

"You know he knows everything we do. He'll find us."

Roy smirked. "That I will… now go." He said before heading up the steps with Riza.

"Come on, let's go…" Winry said as she walked away.

Ed and Al took one last glance at Central Headquarters before following.

* * *

Ed sighed as they entered the hotel that Winry was staying at. "I'll be glad when we can finally leave Central…"

"Well I'll be damned… you actually came back! It took you long enough." A familiar voice called out, causing them to turn back towards the entrance.

Ed couldn't help but smile as he stared down Russell and Fletcher Tringham, but that smile faded into an irritated grimace once Russell got closer and it was obvious he was still taller than Ed.

"Fletcher! It's good to see you again!" Al said, causing the Tringham brothers to look at him in confusion.

"Alphonse…?" Fletcher asked warily.

A relieved smile crossed his face as Al nodded.

Russell frowned at Ed as he pulled him aside. "I thought you said you weren't going to make the Stone…" He muttered so that only Ed could hear him.

Ed shook his head. "Somebody else made it instead… we just stopped them from using it for a terrible reason…" He muttered quietly.

Winry frowned as she observed Ed and Russell's serious conversation. She was worried about what they could be talking so seriously about as Al and Fletcher chatted happily away about what they had been doing in the last three years.

A clock in the hotel chimed, causing the Tringham brothers to jump in shock. "Fletcher, we've gotta go or else we'll miss our train!" Russell said worriedly as he and Ed rejoined the group.

"You're right! Sorry we couldn't say and talk longer, but we need to be getting back to Xenotime!" They turned to run for the exit, waving back at the others.

"Say hi to Belsio and Elisa for us!" Ed and Al called.

The Tringham brothers acknowledged their request with a nod and wave before running out the doors of the hotel towards the train station.

"Oh, Ed. I need to see your automail. Something sounds off with the leg, and I know you suck at maintenance, so can I check it over?" Winry asked, frowning at his left leg.

"Yeah, I was going to ask you about that. It does kinda feel off…" Ed said, moving the leg to feel it.

"Well then, let's go check your arm and leg over."

Al and Ed nodded, quickly registering before following Winry to her room.

* * *

Winry resisted the temptation to hit Ed for his inconsiderate attitude towards his automail as she examined the arm.

"The skin plates will need to be replaced, they're scratched up pretty badly, but everything else seems to be fine for now." She said as she moved to the leg.

This time she did punch him once she removed the skin plates to examine the internal structure.

"What the hell have you been doing to my work?! The bearings are almost gone and the gears are badly damaged!" She listed off several other problems with the leg before glaring at him. "I'll have to completely redo the internal structure of your leg! It won't last long, so don't do anything reckless in the meanwhile. You'll have to come back to Risembool so I can make new limbs for you." She said grumpily.

Ed chuckled nervously. "Well we were planning on visiting a few people before heading back to Risembool. Is that all right with you?"

Winry sighed, shaking her head. "That'll give me time to get them made, so yeah… I guess it'll be fine. Just don't be reckless with the leg!" She snapped as she began removing it.

Al cowered in the corner, fearful of getting a blast of Winry's fury.

When a knock came at the door, Al jumped up to answer it.

"Is Mr. Edward Elric here?" A courier asked, peering inside.

"I'm Alphonse Elric; I'll take it for him."

The courier nodded warily before passing an envelope to him.

"Thanks." Al said as the courier left. "It's from General Mustang!" Al said in surprise as he read the envelope.

"Give it here…" Ed grumbled as Winry finished replacing his arm's skin plates. His eyes narrowed as he read the letter. "That man really loves to piss me off." He said before Al snatched the letter away so Winry and he could read it.

"You've gotta go see him tomorrow? Then I'll have to get working on this right away." Winry said, frowning at the leg. "I don't have any spares with me, so you'll have to use crutches. Can you handle them?" She asked Ed worriedly.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. I had to use them quite a bit in Germany."

She nodded in understanding as she fetched a pair from the closet. "Get some sleep you two; I'll have this done by morning."

Ed and Al looked at her worriedly as she waved at them in dismissal.

"I'll be fine. I've gotten plenty of rest, so this will be nothing."

The brothers nodded as Ed stood up on the crutches with ease before following Al out of her room.

* * *

The next morning, Winry sighed as she double checked Ed's leg, something she always did now after the incident with the screw that landed Ed in a hospital.

Footsteps passing with a strange clunking announced that the brothers were awake and probably heading downstairs for breakfast. She peered out the door to stop them.

"Ed, wait. Your leg is done."

"Thanks Winry." Ed and Al came into her room as he sat, sighing in relief.

"No matter how used to them I am… crutches are a pain."

"This will be even more of a pain." Winry said, grinning as she lined up the automail to what remained of his real leg.

Ed braced himself as she warned him before the searing pain of nerve reconnection shot through his body.

As the pain faded away, he sighed in relief. "Thanks Winry. Come on, Al, we might as well go see what Roy wants with me."

"I'm going home today, and I expect you two will be going off to visit people too, so we should have breakfast together. I'll meet you at the train station once you're done with General Mustang."

Ed and Al looked at her in surprise before nodding. "We've got one thing we need to do before we go to the train station, so we'll meet you there for the six o'clock train. Is that all right?" Ed asked, glancing at Al who blinked in surprise before nodding in agreement.

Winry nodded in understanding, knowing what the brothers wanted to do.

"We'll be stopping by Risembool in about three weeks or so…" Al estimated, receiving a nod of agreement from Ed.

"So take your time with the automail. I can't really give any promises about taking care of my leg, but I'll try my hardest not to let anything happen to it."

Winry glared at him dangerously. "You had better not." She growled. "Come on, let's go eat." She said, walking out of the room.

Ed and Al exchanged nervous glances at each other before following.

* * *

"General Mustang, Edward and Alphonse Elric are here to see you." A soldier said as he stood in the entrance to Roy's office, which was empty.

He had sent everyone away on errands so that it would just be him and the Elrics. Roy smirked. "Send them in."

The soldier saluted as he motioned for Ed and Al to enter.

"So what do you want?" Ed asked in irritation.

Roy went over to the safe and brought out a file, tossing it across the desk to Ed, who instinctively stopped its slide.

Ed raised an eyebrow at him. "What's this?"

"It's the dilemma that you're now faced with."

Ed opened the file and his eyes widened as he stared down his fifteen year old self's image.

"That's right, Ed: your State Alchemist file. Technically, you're still enlisted as a State Alchemist." Roy said in response to Ed's expression.

Ed picked up the silver pocket watch that accompanied the file and opened it tentatively. Staring back at him was 'Don't forget .10' engraved in the lid. He quickly shut it as Al tried to see it. "You had it repaired?"

Roy nodded. "The dilemma facing you now is: do you remain a dog of the military or do you go back to being a normal civilian? You returned Alphonse back to his body, and I have a feeling you won't pursue any means to regain your lost limbs, so now you no longer need the research funds the military grants you. It's up to you, Edward; I'm not forcing you either way." Roy said.

Ed was surprised by the concern hinted in Roy's voice.

"Brother? What are you going to do…?" Al asked uncertainly. He was surprised to find himself torn between hoping his brother would keep the watch and remain chained, and hoping his brother would set the watch down and walk away.

Ed stared at the watch uncertainly for several moments before slipping it into his pocket. "This state's heading in a new direction, and I don't mind being chained to it for now."

Roy nodded as he took the folder back. "All right, we'll have a new picture taken for the file when you return." Roy said as he put the folder back in the safe. "Some new clothes have been taken to your hotel room while you were here, so go back and change. The clothes from the other side of the Gate stand out too much here."

Ed and Al nodded in understanding. "Beware: I received reports there's something strange that's been lurking around Central. Apparently sightings go back to around two weeks before you came, so I didn't think it had anything to do with you. I just wanted to warn you as trouble seems to enjoy latching itself onto you boys."

Ed and Al stared at him in surprise. "Thanks for the warning, General." Ed said as they left.

Roy watched them walk down the stairs. "I have a feeling I'm going to regret giving him that choice…" He muttered to himself.


	12. Chapter 11: Setting Off

Chapter 11: Setting Off

Ed and Al stood at Brigadier General Hughes' grave. Two bouquets of flowers rested in front of the stone. "Hey Hughes… sorry we haven't been by to see you. So much has happened to us that it was impossible to visit…" Ed said, staring sadly down at the grave.

"At least your death wasn't in vain… we found out everything and stopped them from doing too much harm to the state." Al said, shaking his head.

"We can't promise we'll keep ourselves out of danger, General Mustang warned us that something has been lurking around Central. Danger always seems to enjoy latching itself onto us, so this may latch onto us as well. We promise not to push ourselves, though. Please, keep watching over us until this is over…" Ed said, touching the grave with his automail.

Both brothers had their backs to the pathway and didn't notice the woman and child with flowers coming up behind them.

"Momma, who's that at daddy's grave?" Elicia asked, gripping Gracia's hand tightly.

"I… don't know…" Gracia said uncertainly as she examined their backs. She couldn't help but feel surprised as she finally recognised Ed's hair, even though it wasn't in a braid.

"Edward…?" She asked tentatively.

Ed turned and smiled at her. "Hey Gracia… it's been a while…"

Elicia's eyes widened as she recognised his voice. She ran up to him and hugged him, almost knocking him over.

"Hey, Elicia…" He said, kneeling and returning her hug.

"Alphonse…?" Gracia asked, looking at him.

Al smiled as he looked at her. "Hello Mrs. Hughes."

Elicia stared at him in surprise before running over and giving him a hug.

Gracia smiled as she placed the flowers on Hughes' grave. "Would you boys like to come have some tea? It seems we have a lot of catching up to do."

Ed and Al nodded as Al let Elicia climb onto his back.

"Oh, Alphonse, you don't have to…"

"It's all right, Mrs. Hughes." He said, motioning for her to lead the way.

Gracia shook her head as she led the brothers away from Hughes' grave.

* * *

Ed muttered under his breath so Elicia wouldn't hear the curses as he noticed the time. "Al, we'd better get going or else we won't be able to say goodbye to Winry."

Al winced at the thought. "She'd be so mad at us…"

"…And I'd take the punishment." Ed moaned.

Gracia couldn't help but smile in amusement at them. "Then you had better finish your tea and pie quickly. It was wonderful to see you again. I'm glad you are doing all right."

"Thanks for everything Gracia. It was good to see you again." Ed said quickly.

"Thank you very much Mrs. Hughes." Al said with a nod. The brothers quickly finished what remained of their tea and ran for the door.

"Wait!" Elicia called out, freezing them in their tracks.

"What is it, Elicia?" Al asked, kneeling.

"Uhm…" She said shyly, before passing Al a folded sheet of paper.

"Keep it with you?" She asked as Al opened it and smiled.

"I will… thanks."

She passed a folded sheet of paper to Ed as well.

When Ed saw it, he smiled and rubbed her head with his left hand. "Thanks a lot, Elicia."

"Come on, we've gotta get changed before we head to the station." Al said worriedly as Gracia joined Elicia on the steps as the brothers ran towards the road with a backward wave.

"I'm glad we met you boys… and I know Maes is too…" She said quietly as she led Elicia back inside.

Neither brother noticed the glowing eyes watching them from the unusually dark shadows of a nearby alleyway.

* * *

Winry looked up at the clock as a train announced its arrival with a shrieking whistle.

The clock chimed quarter to six loudly to warn passengers with trains that would be leaving soon.

"Where are they…?" She muttered, glancing quickly towards the entrance to the station before turning her attention back to the clock. She noticed something in that quick glance that forced her to look back at the entrance, rubbing her eyes. She thought she was imagining things as Ed and Al walked up the last steps to the station.

Ed was wearing the same black outfit he had worn all those years before being taken by the Gate with a red jacket draped over his suitcase.

Al was a negative reflection of his older brother wearing a beige outfit of a similar design, with a black jacket draped over his suitcase.

She couldn't help but smile at the sight, but a metallic glint at Ed's right hip made that smile fade quickly as a sinking feeling made her worry about what was on the end of that chain. The smile was back as the brothers approached her. "It's about time you two showed up. I was getting worried."

"Don't worry about us Winry; we wouldn't let you leave without seeing you off." Al said as he snatched one of her suitcases.

Ed picked up her other one, both ignoring her protests as they went towards the train heading for Risembool.

* * *

As Al went off to gather information on whether the methods to get to Liore had changed in the last year, Winry and Ed stood staring at the open door to the train car.

"So what was it General Mustang wanted to talk to you about…?" Winry asked quietly. Her question was barely audible over the noise of the station.

Ed looked away sadly before pulling out the silver pocket watch with the crest of the military engraved on it.

Winry forced herself to fight the temptation to rip the damning thing from his belt. Her eyes widened as he opened it and she saw the engraving before he closed it quickly and put it back in his pocket.

"The likelihood that I'll be used as a 'human weapon' is lower now that Dante ain't around to pull the strings, so I decided to stay with the State Alchemists for now."

She nodded in understanding as she looked away. "Just don't get hurt… Come back to Risembool safely…"

"Don't worry, we intend to." He was caught off guard as she suddenly hugged him. "Uh… Winry…?"

"You two are stubborn idiots… You do whatever you want no matter what others say to convince you otherwise…"

"Yeah… that's us alright. There's nothing around that would cause us problems this time though, so just wait for us to return. I promise we'll come back unharmed." He said as he returned her hug.

The train screamed its first warning, forcing them to break up as she hopped into the train's doorway.

Al ran up, panting. "Sorry it took so long!" He said as Winry threw her arms around him.

"Watch out for that idiot of a brother you have, will you? And please watch yourself too." She said, not noticing the irritated glare that Ed was giving her.

Al chuckled as he returned her hug. "Don't worry about us Winry. We'll be fine."

The train screamed its final warning as the doors began to close, forcing her to let go of Al. "See you back in Risembool." She said before heading to her seat, making sure to get a window seat so she could wave goodbye.

The brothers stood and watched the train leave before heading off to their own.


	13. Chapter 12: Liore

Chapter 12: Liore

It turned out that the method to getting to Liore was the same: a train to East City, then a taxi to Liore. Unfortunately for the brothers, Liore had become so popular that getting a taxi to Liore was nearly impossible. So they were forced to gather provisions and walk the distance to Liore.

Ed sighed in exhaustion as Liore finally came into sight. "It's been a while since I've had to endure extreme temperatures… the areas around my automail feels like they're burning…"

"Are you going to be all right?" Al asked worriedly.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. Hey, remember the last time we came to Liore? Man your armour gave us hell. How many times did you sink?"

Al blushed slightly. "I think it was three or four times before you chased me the rest of the way…"

Ed chuckled. "That was because I was pissed and exhausted. It made the last leg of the journey a lot faster though, didn't it?"

Al nodded. "Not to mention we didn't come prepared… If you hadn't gotten mad at that taxi driver we wouldn't have had to walk in the first place."

Ed scowled as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Shut up, he called me short and a dwarf. He practically asked for it. What the hell else was I supposed to do?"

Al sighed. "You should have ignored it."

"Aw, who cares? It's in the past. Hey, let's have a race the rest of the way. It'll be just like old times." Ed said, grinning.

"You're on." Al grinned in response.

"Ready? Go!" Ed said, running as soon as the word 'go' was spoken.

Al stared in disbelief before quickly recovering and running after him. "Hey! That wasn't fair brother!" He yelled, chasing Ed towards Liore.

* * *

Both brothers panted in exhaustion as they collapsed onto stools at the food and drink bar in the centre of town like they had so long ago.

The absence of the gaudy golden statue of Armstrong went unnoticed by them, as Alphonse had been too busy to notice it on his last trip. An alchemist helping with the cleanup gratefully removed the statue while Armstrong was away at the owner's request.

The owner blinked in surprise at the two as they stared out at the people passing by. "Well I'll be… it's been a long time since I've seen you…"

Ed blinked in surprise, looking back at the owner. "Yeah, it has. I'm glad to see this place has rebounded so well." He said, turning back to watch the crowd.

"I agree, brother. I was afraid with that invasion that people would be too afraid to return to Liore, but I'm glad they did."

The owner looked at Al in confusion before remembering what Rose had told him.

"Can we have something to drink? It was a long walk and we need to save what we have left for the trip back." Al asked.

The owner nodded, before passing them what they ordered.

The brothers sat for some time even after they had finished their drinks before Ed sighed. "Well, thanks for letting us sit here for so long. Come on, Al. We need to find a place to stay."

Al nodded as Ed grabbed his suitcase and began walking away. "Thanks very much sir. I'm sorry that Ed's just as rude as ever." He said, bowing quickly before running after Ed.

"I wonder how Rose would react if she knew he was back… She wouldn't stop talking about him when she returned from hiding." The owner muttered before some drunken patrons came to try and get more alcohol from him.

* * *

The brothers stumbled upon the former Church of Leto, which had been torn down and replaced with a hotel.

"Well, it looks as though we found our accommodations for the night…" Ed said as he looked around. "Things are so different here that it's hard for me to believe this is Liore…"

"You'll get used to it, brother." Al said, chucking.

Neither of them noticed the large man charging up behind them until they were in his crushing embrace. "I had heard from General Mustang that you would be coming so I came to find you! How wonderful it is that you could come to Liore!" Armstrong said happily with pink sparkles flying around him.

Rose noticed him and smiled in amusement as she walked up behind him. His massive size hid the struggling Elric brothers from her view. "Lieutenant Colonel, I think you should let go. You may end up killing somebody accidentally if you keep doing that." Rose said, chucking in amusement.

Armstrong looked back in surprise before dropping the brothers, who knelt behind him gasping for breath as he turned to face her.

Rose's attention was on the Lieutenant Colonel as they struck up a conversation, so she didn't notice them.

Suddenly, blue jolts of alchemic reaction surrounded a surprised Armstrong before a cage encased him.

"Lieutenant Colonel!" Rose gasped in shock as Armstrong chuckled.

"I see you haven't lost your touch." He said, bringing out his alchemic gloves. He smashed the cage with ease, allowing the pieces to fall around him.

Familiar cursing finally made Rose look around Armstrong to whom he had been holding. She could only stare in surprise as she and Ed locked eyes before collapsing.

Ed and Al stood up as Armstrong knelt beside her. "Don't worry, you two. I believe the shock of seeing you caused her to faint. She will be fine with some rest. Come back with me to the Armstrong Manor. You can stay with me while you are here."

Ed and Al looked at each other warily as Armstrong picked up Rose with ease. "Come along. Don't make me turn it into an order."

Ed frowned, realizing Roy had told Armstrong everything. "Don't worry, we're coming."

Al sighed as he and Ed followed the large man grudgingly.

* * *

Rose didn't want to open her eyes. She thought what she had seen was a dream. Voices caught her ears, making her open her eyes.

Ed and Al sat beside her, talking to each other quietly.

"You really are here…" She said quietly as tears started rolling down from her eyes.

They looked at her with relief before she suddenly launched herself at Ed in a hug. The chair Ed was sitting on couldn't endure the shock that the sudden increase in weight caused. It collapsed, sending Ed and Rose to the floor.

"I thought you were…"

"You shouldn't have worried about me. I could handle myself no matter what happened. I'm just glad to know you've been doing well."

Al helped Rose stand before pulling Ed to his feet. As he did, Ed's sleeve slipped and revealed the skin plate of his automail.

Rose stared at it in disbelief. "What happened…? You…"

"It'd be too hard to explain Rose. I'm fine with it; I got what I wanted more than anything." He said, patting Al's shoulder.

Rose wiped her eyes before shaking her head. "You two are among the strangest yet bravest people I know…"

Before she could say any more, Armstrong's booming voice announced that dinner was being served.

"Do you wanna stay?" Al asked.

Rose shook her head. "I should be going home. My son's probably worried about me." She smiled as the brothers walked with her out to the porch of Armstrong's home. "I'll be fine, don't worry. Please don't be strangers."

Ed noticed her eyes glance towards him with her last words.

"We'll try not to be, Rose." Al said as she waved and walked down the street.

Ed sighed once she was out of sight, scratching the back of his neck in irritation. "I hope Noah's all right."

Al glanced at Ed and nodded. "I do too…" Al sighed as Ed walked off the porch onto the street. "Brother, why don't you tell Rose you don't-" His words were cut off by a transmutation flash. "Brother! What's wrong?" Al asked worriedly as he noticed the transmuted blade.

"We're being watched…" Ed growled.

Al cursed as he suddenly realized he couldn't remember anything the Gate had taught him.

_It looks as though there was a toll when we crossed…_

He thought as he looked around to see what had his brother worried.

Suddenly, a strange black dog-like creature lunged at Ed. Instinctively Ed rolled to the side and slashed at the creature. The creature vanished almost as soon as it was struck by the blade.

Ed blinked in surprise as Al ran over to him. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine…" Ed said absently as he stared at the spotless blade. "First thing in the morning, we're leaving. We can't stay here anymore." Ed said as he grabbed Al and dragged him back inside.

"All right Ed. We'll have to leave before Lieutenant Colonel Armstrong wakes up to avoid getting questioned."

Ed nodded. "Come on, we'd better go eat before he comes looking for us."

Al nodded and followed his brother, warily looking at the door.

Outside, the shadowy creature reformed and growled angrily at the house before fading back into the shadows.


	14. Chapter 13: Forgotten

Chapter 13: Forgotten

After a day of allowing her to get back under composure, the homunculus and Noah began travelling. They normally avoided the larger cities and the homunculus stayed in the forms of Greed and Pride to deter people from trying to hurt Noah.

They had travelled far and had met many bands, but the homunculus refused all of them. It always claimed they were not right for her. Though they would stay the night with them, they would leave early the next morning.

Noah usually avoided looking at the homunculus, even when they were talking. Until something strange began to happen to it. Noah frowned as she watched the homunculus' hand flickered. "It's been doing that for a while now…"

"No it has not. It has been spreading." The homunculus said as it looked at Pride's hand in concern. "Yesterday, it was only my fingers. Now it has spread to my forearm… I am worried I may not be long for this world."

"What could have happened?" Noah said worriedly. She may have hated the homunculus for taking the Elric brothers from her, but she didn't want to see anything bad happen to it.

It was keeping its promise to her, and she suddenly realized as she faced the prospect of losing its company, it wasn't that bad a creature. It had been kind enough to give her a day to herself before they continued, and it hadn't done anything to hurt her at all.

"I believe the Gate did take a toll on my body, well at least the structuring that allows me to exist. I do not know if that means I will no longer be able to hold a physical form, or if I will vanish completely from this world. We must hurry. I do not wish to find out which answer it will be." The homunculus said grimly.

Noah nodded as she walked ahead of it, allowing the homunculus to watch her back.

Noah sighed in exhaustion as she sat behind a small brush by the side of the road. "How is it now?" She asked worriedly.

The homunculus frowned as it removed one of Ed's jackets Noah had given it to hide the flickering. It had spread now to the middle of the upper arm and the flickering in the hand had become more severe. "I fear I am not long for this world after all…" It said worriedly.

Noah's head drooped as she looked at the ground. "So I will be left alone…"

"No. I shall keep my promise. Even if I do not like the band I must place you with, I will find a band to take you in. It will have to be the next band we meet, though. I cannot risk pushing it and end up leaving you alone."

"I guess…" She sighed. "I can't keep calling you 'homunculus'… Wouldn't you like to have a name of your own?"

The homunculus smiled in amusement at her. "Odd, I had been considering that myself. It would be nice to have a name I can call my own, even if it is only for a short time. Do you have any suggestions?"

Noah blinked in surprise at it before shaking her head. "No… I'm sorry…" She said, looking at the ground.

The homunculus laughed. "Do not worry. I had one that I was strongly considering. It seems highly appropriate considering how much of it I had caused you and the brothers. I believe I shall name myself 'Pain' until we find you a band. After that, I had intended to give myself to the Gate; hopefully I can still do that before I vanish completely."

Noah cringed at its choice of name. "I guess if that's what you want… Pain… I can call you that."

Pain nodded. "It is what I want. I am not long for this world, so it really does not matter. Pain suits me. Come along, we must hurry before this spreads too far and it becomes impossible to move by daylight." Pain said, motioning to its arm.

Noah nodded in understanding as Pain helped her stand and they began walking once again.

* * *

Pain frowned as they came upon a thick forest separated by the road. "Be cautious Noah…" It warned warily as Pride's hand went to the sword hilt that rested behind its back.

Noah looked at Pain worriedly before nodding.

So far they had been lucky and hadn't run into any trouble, but it seemed that their luck had run out. Six men appeared from the forest holding guns aimed at Pain and Noah.

Noah cowered in fear as Pain stared them down calmly.

"Let go of the sword or else we'll shoot you." One of the men beside Pain warned with his gun aimed directly at Pain's head.

Pride's hand left the sword hilt and rose into the air.

Noah glanced pleadingly at Pain who shook its head as the men began to drag her away.

"Heh, what's behind the eye patch, buddy?" The man with the gun pointed at Pain asked, grinning in amusement.

"Do you wish to see?" Pain asked.

The man looked at it in confusion as it lowered a hand to the eye patch and removed it. The man could only stare in surprise at the blank white eye before it suddenly rolled down and revealed Pride's Uroboros marking.

Suddenly, Pain vanished from the man's sight, causing him to snap out of his surprise.

"What the hell is he?!" He yelled at Noah.

Noah was frozen in terror as the men around her suddenly screamed and large gouges appeared in them.

Pain reappeared in front of the man as all his comrades collapsed, dead. Pain stood there, pointing the bloody sword's tip at the man. "Well?" Pain asked simply as the man pointed his gun at it.

The gun went off, hitting Pain directly in the head.

Noah screamed as Pain collapsed, staring blankly at nothing.

The man aimed his gun shakily at Noah. "Y-You're coming with me girl…" He said unsteadily, walking up to her.

"Hmph. It appears that even though I have consumed no red stones, I can still come back to life a few times…" Pride's voice came from behind the man.

The man turned suddenly and stared at horror as Pain stood and brushed itself off. The hole in its head smoked as the bullet was forced out.

The man suddenly collapsed to his knees, the shock of what he was seeing finally hit him full force. With a quick slash of Pride's sword, the man joined his fellow bandits in death.

"Now, shall we move along?" Pain asked brightly to Noah, who could only stare at it in terror. Pain sighed as it replaced Pride's eye patch. "Do not worry, Noah. I would never harm you. I am here only to protect you and help you. Come along before we are found with this mess. Get changed in those bushes over there. Those clothes will only help to damn us if this is discovered." It ordered, pointing to the place where a few of the men had come from.

Noah fearfully complied, keeping a wary eye on Pain as it cleaned off the sword and turned into Greed to clear away the blood.

* * *

Another day had passed and the strange phenomena that plagued Pain continued to spread, with both arms now flickering violently. "I am sorry, Noah, but it appears as though the next band we run across will be the one that will take you in. We cannot afford to waste any more time waiting." Pain said worriedly as it examined Greed's arms.

"There's a place where bands go to rest and restock water up ahead. I remember it from when I was with my old band. Hopefully there will be one there." Pain nodded.

"And if there is not a band there, we will wait until one makes camp there. Hopefully one will come by soon."

Noah nodded as she led the way to the clearing in the forest. "We're in luck." Noah whispered as they got close enough to see the clearing, but not close enough so that the dogs the band had as guards would notice them.

"They will have to do." Pain said frowning as the flickering became visible through its open coat.

Noah nodded as Greed walked away from her. "Where are you going?" She asked worriedly.

"I am going to hide this jacket. It would not do well for you to see it and wonder where it came from." Pain explained before fading into nothing, the jacket plummeting into the bushes. "I will deal with you last." Envy's voice echoed around her.

She nodded in understanding as suddenly the dogs began acting strangely.

The humans got their guards up as people gradually began holding their heads with strange expressions on their faces. Soon, humans and dogs were looking around in confusion, wondering what had happened.

Noah looked around worriedly. "Pain…?"

"I am here. Take care of yourself, Noah. I am sure the Elric brothers are doing the same. Enjoy your new life."

"Thank you…" She muttered before the same strange feeling came over her.

For a moment or two she stood staring blankly before wondering why she was standing so far from her band.

A flickering Envy appeared as soon as she entered the camp and was welcomed back with open arms. A grin appeared on Pain's face. "I am glad I was able to help you…" Pain said before the Gate appeared and the Children grabbed at it, pulling it willingly back into the Gate.


	15. Chapter 14: A Teacher's Final Wish

Chapter 14: A Teacher's Final Wish

Ed stared out the window with a bored, yet content, expression on his face as familiar landscapes flew past.

They had decided to visit Dublith after leaving Liore early the next day. And hoped whatever attacked them in Liore wouldn't follow them.

"Oh yeah, brother… I never said anything because I thought we'd never come back here but…" Al's voice was filled with a mixture of guilt and sadness as Ed looked at him worriedly.

"What is it?"

"Well… we have another grave to visit." Al said. His voice trailed away as he spoke.

Ed stared at Al for a moment before looking out the window sadly. "Considering all she's been through, I'm surprised she lived as long as she did…" He muttered. "Is there anything else I should know?"

Al shook his head. "Nope… you know as much as I do now."

The train whistled to announce it was nearing its stop as Ed and Al stood to grab their suitcases.

"It's hard to believe it's been three years. Nothing seems to have changed." Ed mused as the train began to slow down, allowing Dublith's streets to be seen clearly.

* * *

The two brothers stepped off the train and passed the station master, who blinked in confusion at the two as they waved at him. He did a double take as he realized who it was before scratching his head in confusion. He wasn't the only one as people who had been familiar with Izumi's apprentices stared at the Elric brothers in surprise.

Ed frowned in irritation at the attention. "I know it's been a while, but not as long as it was the last time we came back."

"Rumours started to spread around that you were dead, brother. It's kind of hard not to stare at somebody who is supposed to be dead…" Al said, trying hard not to laugh at Ed's expression.

They paused outside of the meat shop in surprise. "Closed…?" The brothers said together in surprise.

"Sig never closes…" Ed muttered.

"Maybe they've gone to visit Izumi. We should go and check it out." Al said worriedly.

Ed nodded, slinging his suitcase over his shoulder. "Come on, we'll pick up some flowers before we go."

Al nodded as he followed his brother, who was trying desperately to ignore the stares he continued to receive.

* * *

The familiar hulking shape that came into view as the brothers approached the graveyard confirmed their suspicions.

Sig Curtis and Mason knelt by the grave of Izumi Curtis. Neither of them noticed the brothers until they were standing beside them, setting their flowers atop the ones placed by the men.

Mason blinked in surprise. "Hey Alphonse, it's good to see you back…" He trailed off as he realized Ed was standing beside him. "Well I'll be damned… it looks as though Al was telling the truth…"

Ed waved at Sig and Mason's surprised faces.

"Edward… you're alive." Sig said in shock as Mason clapped Ed hard on the shoulder.

"It's good to see you. I wish it could be under better circumstances, but it really is good to see you."

"Thanks, I just wish I could have been here to see her before she died."

As Al opened his mouth to say something, Sig stood up and loomed over the brothers. "Do not regret anything. Izumi would kill you if you stood here talking about regrets." The brothers cringed, knowing full well their late teacher would do just as Sig said. "Mason, we should be returning to the shop. You two will be staying with me while you're here. Got that?"

"Yes sir!" The brothers said automatically.

Mason chuckled as Sig walked away. "Some things haven't changed." He mused before following the large man.

* * *

The sun had begun to set by the time Ed and Al returned to the meat shop. "It's about time you got here. Your dinner is waiting for you on the stove." Sig growled in his usual tone.

"Thanks, Sig." The brothers replied as they headed through the meat shop to the home that took up the remainder of the building.

Mason yawned as he sat at the table. "We were getting worried about you two. Sure we know you two can take care of yourselves, but with all the trouble you two get into… a little worrying doesn't hurt."

Ed and Al smiled appreciatively at Mason as they grabbed their dinner and sat down to eat.

"Here." Sig said, passing Ed an envelope. "Izumi said to give this to the two of you should Al succeed in getting you back." He said before motioning to Mason to help him close up the meat shop.

Mason nodded in understanding and followed Sig, shutting the door tightly behind him.

Ed opened the letter as Al hovered over his shoulder. A sad smile appeared on his face as he read it. "She knew we always take care of each other, but she still had to say it."

"Staying out of danger is one thing we can't do yet…" Al added sadly as Ed carefully put the letter back into the envelope.

"Yeah… She certainly knew us better than we know ourselves. It's almost as though she knew we'd run into danger again." Al nodded as he sat down to eat, Ed slipping the letter carefully into his suitcase.

Sig and Mason returned shortly afterwards. "You two are going to stay here for a while. I won't hear any excuses against it." Sig growled.

The brothers looked at each other before nodding. "We wouldn't want to cross you, Sig." Al said, chuckling nervously.

Sig nodded his approval before going to set up their rooms.

"Admittedly, I don't know who was scarier…" Al whispered to Ed, who could only shake his head.

"It was definitely Izumi. Sig only looks scary."

The brothers silenced their whispers when Sig glared into the room to make sure they were still there.


	16. Chapter 15: Home

Chapter 15: Home

The Elric brothers stayed in Dublith for two weeks before deciding it was time to head home to Risembool.

"Are you sure you don't want to stay a little longer?" Sig asked in concern he and Mason followed Ed and Al to the train station.

"I'm sure, Sig. We need to get back to Risembool. I damaged my automail when we were playing with the kids, so I've gotta get my new leg before it becomes hard to move."

"Take care of yourselves! Don't be strangers!" Mason said as the brothers boarded the train.

They leaned out the open window of their seats and waved goodbye as others gathered around Sig and Mason to say goodbye. The train screamed as it began moving out. Once the train was gone, Sig frowned worriedly.

"What's wrong, Sig?" Mason asked, noticing the larger man's expression.

"Those boys have been anxious these past few days. I have a feeling that trouble's found them again. They made the decision to leave fairly quickly, and the automail is just a convenient excuse…"

Mason frowned. "I hope you're feeling is wrong…"

Sig nodded. "I hope so too. Come on, we've got a store to run."

"Yes sir!" Mason said, following Sig away from the station.

* * *

Ed sighed as they stood before Trisha Elric's grave. Their flowers were lying on top of the ones that they assumed were left by Winry and Pinako.

"I think we should go get your leg done now, brother. It's almost been an hour since we got here."

"Yeah… you're right Al…" Ed said absently.

Al frowned worriedly as he stared at their mother's grave. He remembered what Ed had done in order to stop Sloth and he was worried that Ed was still beating himself up for it.

"Hey Al, aren't you the one who said we should go? Why are you just standing there?"

Al snapped out of his trance to see that Ed had already gone to the gates of the graveyard.

"Hey! Wait for me!" Al called, running towards him. "Are you sure you're all right, Ed?" Al asked worriedly.

"I'm fine. Dad helped me deal with that after I ended up in Germany." Ed said, shaking his head. "We'd better hurry, that train ride didn't help my leg at all. Winry's going to kill me for breaking it." He said as he leaned on the staff he had transmuted to help keep the weight off his automail.

"I'm amazed, brother." Al said. Ed glanced at him curiously.

"What?"

"You used to hate dad so much because he left us alone, now when you talk about him I actually hear respect in your voice for him."

Ed chuckled. "I was stuck with the guy for a while so I learned more about him. Sure, he still stunk as a father, but he wasn't that bad otherwise." Ed said. He had never told Al how the Gate was opened on Germany's side, and was thankful that Al never asked.

* * *

Den's ears twitched as a familiar sound reached his ears. He began barking and wagging his tail happily as Pinako sat on the porch with her pipe.

"What is it, Den?" She asked around her pipe before the Elric brothers appeared, walking up the road.

The pipe dropped from her mouth as it hung open in shock. "Well I'll be damned…"

Den's barking alerted Winry and she ran out to her balcony, smiling.

"I guess Winry was right when she made that last set of automail. I'm impressed." Pinako said as she finally recovered and walked out to meet them.

Suddenly, a wrench flew and struck Ed in the centre of his forehead, knocking him over. "Damnit Winry!" Ed yelled as he sat up, rubbing his head.

"You broke it! I told you not to!"

"And I told you I'd make no promises!" He said before pocketing the wrench.

"Hey! That's mine!"

"I'm keeping it until we leave, and any other wrenches you feel the need to throw at me!"

The shouting match quickly degraded into name calling before Pinako broke it up with some choice words of her own.

Al sighed as he walked towards the house with Den while Ed began a shouting match with Pinako. "Things certainly haven't changed, have they?"

Den barked in reply as things finally settled down and Pinako and Ed began to follow.

* * *

Winry sighed as she brought down a case containing Ed's new limbs.

"Ed will be in shortly." Al said as he entered.

She smiled and nodded. "It's good to have you two back. Things had gotten pretty boring without you guys."

"Not to mention we had lost our biggest cash cow!" Pinako commented as she and Ed entered.

Ed groaned as he heard what Pinako called him. "Can't you give me a break for once?"

Pinako cackled as he removed his shirt. "Why? We need to make up for the three years without you!"

Ed couldn't help but smile as he shook his head. "You really haven't changed at all, Aunt Pinako."

She chuckled as she led Winry into the operating room.

"I'll see you after, Al." Ed said, receiving a nod from Al before following the women.

* * *

Al waited patiently until Ed came out, snatching up his shirt and heading for the door. Al smiled as he immediately understood what Ed wanted.

"We haven't done this since I was a soul in armour." Al mused as Ed nodded.

"Yeah, do you think you can win this way?" Ed said mockingly.

Al grinned. "We'll just have to see, won't we?"

Ed ran at Al and aimed a punch at his head, only to miss as Al ducked.

Winry sighed in irritation as she and Pinako stood on the porch. "He really enjoys breaking my hard work, doesn't he?"

Pinako chuckled as she brought out her pipe. "I must admit, it's interesting to watch them this time. Ed's so used to fighting a seven foot tall suit of armour that Al may very well have the upper hand. This will certainly be a short training session."

Winry watched, her eyes narrowing. "No… maybe not… Al's used to Ed being shorter than him so he has to adjust too… and Ed's already quickly adjusting to the change…"

Pinako smiled at her granddaughter. "I'm impressed, dear. You've certainly got an eye for detail. I'm just worried about Alphonse. Ed's used to fighting a suit of armour, so the blows he aims with his right arm may end up being stronger than Al's human body can handle." She said as her smile turned into a frown.

"You're right, grandma. I hope it doesn't come to that, but if it does… maybe we can add any medical attention Al needs to Ed's bill!" Winry said, grinning.

Pinako burst out laughing. "That's my girl! You've learned well."

"I had a good teacher." Winry said as the brothers continued to train.

"Come on, I've got to start dinner. Get Ed's bill ready. Alphonse doesn't look like he'll be getting hurt at all." Pinako said, receiving a nod from Winry as they went back inside.

* * *

Ed and Al sighed in exhaustion as they came in.

Their training had been halted by Pinako yelling at them about getting cleaned up before dinner.

"I don't know what kind of place you boys were in, but I'll be damned if I let you forget your manners now that you're back!" Pinako snapped at them.

"Don't worry; we were planning on coming in before you yelled." Ed said as he went upstairs.

Al chuckled. "Don't worry Aunt Pinako; we would never forget something that important."

Pinako nodded approvingly. "Good boys."

Once they were cleaned up, everyone sat at the dinner table.

Ed noticed the slip of paper that Winry immediately tried to hide. "Wait until after dinner for that." He growled, realizing what it was.

Winry and Pinako snickered in amusement. "So you'd rather be sick than have no appetite at all? Interesting…" Pinako said, smiling.

Once dinner was finished, Ed sighed as he held out his hand to Winry.

Winry blinked at him in surprise. "What?"

"Give me the bill…" Ed grumbled.

Winry hesitated. "Wouldn't you like to wait until later…?"

"It's better to get bad news over with first." Al said as Ed nodded in agreement.

Winry rolled her eyes. "I tried to warn you…" She said as she passed the slip of paper to Ed.

Ed paled as he stared at the figure on it.

Al stared over his shoulder curiously and quickly paled in response.

"Did you forget you never paid for your last set of automail? That's the total for both sets, and the quick repair job Winry did in Central." Pinako explained as she put her pipe in her mouth.

"While Winry was in Central I was going to have her get General Mustang to pay for your last set, but then she phoned me and said that it wasn't necessary. She never told me why, even after she returned from Central." Pinako continued, eyeing Winry with a strange look.

Winry simply looked at her lap, avoiding her grandmother's eye.

Ed sighed as he recovered, pocketing the bill. "You should have. I would have loved to have seen his expression when you billed him for my automail."

"Will you two ever learn to get along?" Winry asked in exasperation.

"Not as long as the bastard insists on manipulating every move I make." He said, shaking his head.

A conversation got into full swing until the sun began to set.

Ed sighed as he stood.

"Are you all right, dear?" Pinako asked worriedly.

"I'm fine, it's been a long day and we're heading out early, so I'm going to go to bed."

Pinako nodded as Al also stood. "I must admit, for once you have a good idea. Winry, we should head to bed too so we can see them off properly."

Winry nodded and followed everyone up the stairs.

"Sleep well boys. It's good to have you back." Pinako said as they paused outside the room the brothers always slept in.

"You have no idea how good it is to be back." Ed said.

Al shook his head in amazement. "You left it exactly how it was before? You certainly had a lot of hope that we'd return."

Pinako nodded. "Damn straight I did. You boys always seem to defy people's expectations, so I just decided to expect you to defy everyone's thoughts that you wouldn't be coming back."

"You have the strangest logic of anyone I know… but we're glad for it." Ed said, grinning.

Al yawned and waved before heading into the room.

"Good night." Ed said as he yawned and waved before shutting the door.

Winry stared at the door for a few moments before a noise from Pinako snapped her back into focus.

"Good night Winry."

"Good night Granny."

They said to each other before going to their rooms and shutting their doors for the night.


	17. Chapter 16: Déjà Vu

Chapter 16: Déjà Vu

Winry let out a squeal of excitement as they sat at the breakfast table, where Winry and Pinako had learned of the brothers' plans. "I can't believe you guys are taking me to Rush Valley! I figured you'd be going back to Central now that you're all fixed."

Al chuckled. "Ed's avoiding General Mustang for as long as he can."

Ed sighed as he finished breakfast and stood. "You'd better be ready by the time I get back or else we'll leave you here." He said.

Al glanced at him curiously. "Where are you going, brother?"

"I'm going to go pay these vultures." Ed said as he winced at the large figure on the slip of paper again.

Winry and Pinako both let out squawks of irritation, which were ignored by Ed as he walked out of the house.

"Don't mind him; he didn't seem to sleep very well last night." Al said, glancing at the door in concern.

"Hmph. He was probably thinking about what General Mustang would have him do if he went back to Central right away." Winry said grumpily before storming up the stairs.

Al nodded absently. They hadn't told Winry or Pinako about the shadowy creature that had attacked Ed in Liore. He wondered why Ed suddenly decided to go to Rush Valley when they had agreed to keep Winry and Pinako in the dark until they knew more.

"Is something wrong, Alphonse?" Pinako asked worriedly.

Al shook his head. "No, nothing's wrong. I just wasn't expecting our next destination to be Rush Valley, the one place Ed probably fears above anywhere else in this State."

Pinako chuckled. "I know what you mean. Winry kept muttering about 'guilting somebody into a trip to Rush Valley' before you came back, but I don't think she intended for me to hear her. Ed will certainly be keeping his arm well covered. Rush Valley hasn't died down at all when it comes to automail enthusiasts."

Al nodded in agreement at Ed returned. He passed Pinako a sizeable amount of money, which she counted quickly and nodded.

"Thanks."

"Winry, hurry up or we'll leave you behind!" Ed yelled upstairs.

"Coming!" Winry yelled as Ed walked to the door.

"Come on, Al." He said, shaking his head.

Al nodded and followed. "See you, Aunt Pinako."

She chuckled. "Don't be strangers you two."

Ed made a silent backhanded wave while Al waved with a grin on his face.

Winry's loud footsteps were heard as she came down the steps and quickly hugged Pinako. "I'll be back, Granny!"

"I'll be here waiting, dear." Pinako said, giving Winry a slight push. "Hurry up or they will leave you behind."

Winry nodded as she ran out the door.

* * *

Winry grinned happily as she ran under the arch that announced they were now in Rush Valley. "I really appreciate this, guys. I haven't been back to Rush Valley in almost a year."

"You're welcome Winry." Al said as he glanced over at Ed, who was putting on a pair of black gloves to hide his automail.

"Don't worry about it, Ed. If you're with me, the other automail engineers won't try to touch you."

"Don't mind me, Winry. It's just a nervous habit after my last encounter here. I'll just keep wearing them until we leave."

Winry couldn't help but snicker at him before waving to some engineers.

The two brothers slipped back a ways as Winry was distracted by people she knew. "Why did you decide to come here, brother? I thought we had agreed to head straight for Central?" Al asked worriedly.

"Don't worry about it, Al. I just decided to get the trip to Rush Valley over with before Winry asked us about it at a later time."

"You're worried that if we go to Central, we won't be coming back to Risembool for a long time…" Al noted from Ed's expression.

Ed could only nod in response as they caught up to Winry.

"Is something wrong?" Winry asked worriedly.

Ed shook his head. "It's nothing, don't worry about it."

Winry eyed them suspiciously before walking away.

Ed sighed. "She knows us too well."

Al nodded with an amused smile. "Yes she does, brother…"

Suddenly, a dark skinned woman came out of nowhere and hugged Winry, almost knocking the two to the ground. "Winry! It's about time you came back!"

"Paninya! It's good to see you again!" The two women laughed and struck up a conversation, leaving Ed and Al behind.

Ed shook his head. "Why am I not surprised by this?"

"Because we've seen everything. It's hard to be surprised by something when you've seen it all." Al said with a bemused expression on his face.

Ed could only shake his head in response as they followed Winry and Paninya from a distance.

* * *

Some time later, Winry glanced at Ed and Al as they walked down the street after having checked into their hotel. "Why didn't you guys say anything? I'm sure Paninya would have loved to have seen you again."

Al shrugged. "You looked like you two were having such a good conversation; we didn't really want to interrupt it."

Winry smiled. "Thanks. It has been a while. We had a lot to catch up on."

"Don't mention it…" Ed trailed off as he saw a bunch of people gathered around, cheering and jeering at something. "You have gotta be kidding…" Ed muttered as Al and Winry followed him towards the crowd in confusion.

His suspicions were confirmed as soon as he was able to see the two con artists they had encountered on their first trip to Rush Valley. Sure enough, as they watched a few matches, it was obvious that they were up to their old trick of using alchemy to destroy the underside of the table.

"Didn't they learn their lesson last time…?" Ed grumbled as he took off his black jacket and gloves.

"What are you going to do, Ed?" Winry asked warily as Ed unconsciously handed Al his jacket and gloves.

"It depends on whether or not they'll recognize me…" He said as he pulled out his braid and made it into a simple ponytail.

"Aren't there any other challengers out there who are willing to take on our champion?" The referee con artist yelled to the crowd. They had amassed quite a fortune, which sat lumped beside the referee to prevent people in the crowd from stealing any of it.

"I will." Ed said coldly as he stepped out of the ring of people.

Winry and Al stood on the edge, watching them warily.

The referee and the champion looked at him warily, as though something about him seemed familiar, but they dismissed their worries as Ed rubbed his hands together before sitting with a hand resting casually on the table for a few moments. The champion's automail was different than the last time, but it was still large and clawed as it waited for Ed's automail to grab it so the match could begin.

"Are you ready to lose that arm, kid?" The champion sneered.

Ed simply stared coldly at him as the referee placed his hand on top of theirs.

"Now remember this is a clean game. I don't want to see any cheating!" He said loudly so that the crowd could hear him.

Ed fought the temptation to scoff at them.

"Fighters ready?" Ed and the champion nodded. "Begin!" The referee yelled as he took his hand off theirs.

Winry glanced at Al warily as Ed and the champion held each other at a standstill, or so it appeared. "Do you think Ed will use Alchemy again?"

Al blinked in surprise at the worry in Winry's voice. Al shook his head. "I don't think so. They'd know the trick and call him on it as soon as he does it. It'd be too risky to try the same move on them twice, even if they didn't recognize him."

Winry nodded in understanding and secretly hoped Ed could somehow counter their trick without doing something to compromise her hard work.

The champion began to break out in a sweat as Ed held him at bay with little effort. With a quick glance at each other, the referee tried to activate the transmutation circle on the underside of the table.

A bewildered expression was all Ed needed to begin using all of his force to send the champion's automail crashing through the table. The two con artists looked at him bewildered as he took the winnings and walked back to Winry and Al.

The crowd parted in surprise as they compared the flimsy arm-like automail to that of the combat-specific automail the champion had been using before flocking over to the former champion in hopes of getting his business.

* * *

"What did you do, Ed?" Al asked. He hadn't noticed any alchemic distortion to the con artist's arm, so he was stumped as to how Ed defeated them.

Winry walked behind them, so her scowl went unnoticed.

"All I did was change the composition of the table so they couldn't use their alchemy. The rest was all this." He said, holding his arm.

Winry hugged him hard from behind. "Thanks a lot, Ed!" She said happily, much to his confusion.

"Here, buy whatever you want with this. I've got no use for it." He said, handing Winry the winnings.

Winry smiled as she took the bag. "Thanks. I mean it. Come on, I promised Paninya that I'd meet her for some coffee!" She said before running slightly ahead.

"What was that all about, Al?" Ed asked in confusion.

Al snickered in amusement. "You still don't understand people, Ed. She's happy because you didn't cheat this time. Remember how she had Paninya take your watch last time? It was because she wanted you to appreciate your automail. You showed her that you appreciate it by using your automail instead of alchemy this time." He explained as Ed donned his black jacket and gloves again.

"I honestly don't understand her. I've always appreciated my automail… I guess I just haven't shown it enough."

"Considering how often you come back to her with busted automail, I think you make Winry doubt that appreciation."

"That's true…" Ed trailed off as Winry froze in fear. Ed and Al frowned as the con artists stood menacingly before Winry.

The ex-'champion' must have had his arm repaired as it gleamed menacingly in the sun, his clawed fingers flexing threateningly at Winry.

"Give us back the money and nobody will get hurt, missy." The 'referee' said.

"You two really don't learn your lessons do you?" Ed growled as he stood beside Winry.

The 'referee' paled as he finally recognised Ed. "You're the shrimp who cheated last time! What did you-" His inquiry was cut off as Ed's fist connected with his face.

From Ed's expression, it was apparent that the punch had been a subconscious reaction to the word 'shrimp'.

The ex-'champion' stared down at his partner in surprise as he lay unconscious. "That's it…!" He roared before raising his claws and aiming them at Winry.

Winry could only close her eyes as the claws came at her.

A sickening crunch caused her to open her eyes as Ed's automail stopped the claws dead in their tracks.

A dangerous expression flashed across Ed's face as he glared at the man. "Don't you dare touch her…" He growled.

Suddenly, the man's arm exploded and forced him onto the ground with his partner.

Al stared at Ed in surprise. He never expected his brother to use Scar's tactics against another human being.

The sound of the exploding automail woke the referee and he stared in horror at what remained of his partner's arm. The two quickly took off and Ed sighed in relief.

"I didn't want to do that, but at least now I think they'll stop conning people…"

Al shook his head. "That was pretty dangerous, brother."

"I knew what I was doing. You can thank Scar for that. I've only used that twice now. I would never use it on a human."

"Thanks for that, Ed. I thought I heard something in your automail though." She looked at his arm worriedly, checking everything thoroughly to hide how shaken up she was at what Ed had just done. "All right, your arm is clear. It must have been the other guys'. It had such bad workmanship." She shook her head. "Anyways, we'd better hurry or we'll be late for meeting Paninya."

Ed and Al nodded as she ran ahead to meet Paninya. "Come on, Al." Ed said simply as he followed.

Al shook his head. "I keep forgetting how scary Ed can be when it comes to our friends' lives being in danger… especially when it's Winry…" He muttered as he ran to catch up.

* * *

Winry and Paninya chatted away happily while drinking coffee as the brothers sat at a nearby table, out of Paninya's view.

"So Winry… the last few times you've been here, you haven't brought Ed with you. Did you two break up or something?"

Winry had been taking a drink when Paninya spoke, however the coffee didn't stay in her mouth very long. Thankfully, she made sure nobody was seated where the coffee sprayed from her mouth.

Ed had a hard time not following her lead as he swallowed carefully to avoid choking.

Paninya looked at Winry worriedly. "Did I say something wrong?" She asked.

Winry shook her head. "Not really. Ed and I were never a couple and well… he's right behind you." She said, glad that Paninya looked towards the table where the brothers were sitting so she could regain her composure and stop blushing.

Ed and Al waved at Paninya as she stared at them in surprise. "Well why have you two been sitting over there this entire time? Why didn't you join us?"

"Well, it's because we didn't want to disturb your conversation." Al said sheepishly.

"Plus, with everyone thinking I was dead, I didn't want to put up with any questions about my whereabouts these past three years."

Paninya chuckled at Ed. "I had heard some rumours, but in my opinion you're too stubborn to die young." She said, grinning.

Ed couldn't help but chuckle. "Thanks for that vote of confidence. Even people who know me better than you do thought I was dead. But you're right; I'm too damn stubborn to die young."

Paninya laughed and motioned for them to join the women, which they did gratefully.

The conversation wore on throughout the afternoon until the café owner said she was closing shop for the night.


	18. Chapter 17: Brought Back to Reality

Chapter 17: Brought Back to Reality

Winry sighed happily as she stood in her room. She had just finished tooling around with some potential changes to Ed's automail and decided to take a break.

She was happy the brothers brought her here; there were so many new design schemes and technology that she felt like she was already falling behind other mechanics. She put the blue prints away and went over to the open window.

The southern night was warmer than she was used to, so the cool breeze that blew in from her window was a relief as she leaned out of it to get more of the breeze.

Movement below caught her eye as Ed walked out onto the porch with his hands in his pockets looking deep in thought.

She frowned down at him worriedly before deciding to go see what was wrong.

* * *

They had chosen this hotel precisely because it was off the main way, so that the noise that continued through the night of automail enthusiasts wouldn't disturb their sleep.

The street was empty and allowed Ed to stand out on the porch to collect his thoughts a lot easier.

"Are you all right?" Winry asked worriedly as she joined him.

"I'm fine. I've just been thinking about how surprisingly easy it was for me to adjust to being back here. Three years have passed, and I don't count that brief visit a year ago, but it's almost as though no time has passed at all."

Winry nodded in understanding. "Things don't really change much while you're too busy rebuilding what was destroyed, and that's what our state's been trying to do."

Ed chuckled and nodded as he walked off the porch onto the street. "You're right. I just got used to how fast things moved in that other world. It was madness over there. Not even during the time of peace did things ever seem to stop changing. At first, people were resigned to the fate having been given to them, suddenly there were grumblings about the fate handed to them, and then suddenly there were failed mutinies occurring. I always missed this place, no matter how well I hid it, precisely because things move slowly. Even if I can't settle down, I know there are places I can come back to if I need to slow down every once and a while."

Winry smiled in amusement. "You're just now admitting that? People have been trying to get you to admit that for years."

"Yeah, I-" He cut off as movement in an alleyway adjacent to the hotel caught his eye.

"What is it?" She asked worriedly.

Ed remained silent as he transmuted his automail into his trademark blade.

Why Ed felt that the blade was necessary made her concern override any annoyance that usually came from knowing her hard work was being constantly messed with whenever he made that blade.

Suddenly, the shadowy dog-like creature that had attacked the brothers in Liore lunged from the alley.

Ed's blade sliced it cleanly in two, but it vanished.

Winry paled in fear. All hopes that the brothers weren't quickly moving place to place out of need for familiarity vanished from her.

"Get back inside…" Ed growled in warning as he looked around. He was worried that the shadow creature would come back.

Something was different this time, though. It felt more solid because the blade definitely met with resistance, and it didn't vanish as it came into contact with the blade.

There had been something visible over its right eye and he thought he had heard a growl just before the blade sliced through its open jaws.

He wondered worriedly if what he felt this time meant that last time it was an illusion, and that this time, the manipulator was near-by…

He walked towards the alley, wondering if the person or persons behind the strange creature was lurking there.

Suddenly, a scream from behind him forced him to turn around.

The shadow creature had reformed and stood between Ed and Winry, slowly advancing towards her. The creature leapt into the air, its jaws open as it aimed at Winry, who ducked in fear.

Silently, Ed thanked her for doing that as he brought out the wrench he had confiscated back in Risembool and threw it at the creature.

The wrench hit its mark and the creature vanished again as the wrench continued and embedded itself into the side of the wooden structure.

"Run!" Ed yelled as he followed his own order, grabbing Winry by the arm and dragging her back inside while ripping a sizeable chunk out of the hotel wall as he pulled the wrench out.

Slamming the door behind them, he ignored looks from the people in the lobby as he dragged a stunned Winry up the stairs and back to her room.

* * *

When she finally recovered, she frowned at Ed's back as he stared out the window. "What was that thing?"

"I don't know, but we saw it once before in Liore. That's why we've always been so worried about staying in one place for too long. I just didn't expect to find it here."

"I had hoped all this was behind you two…" She said sadly.

"I think it will be, once we deal with this. I have my hunches on what's behind that thing, but I can't really confirm anything yet. That's why tomorrow we're heading back to Central. You can take a train to Risembool from there."

She nodded in understanding.

"Try to get some sleep and don't let that shadow worry you. It doesn't seem to bother coming into buildings." Ed said as he shut her window as a precaution.

Winry nodded silently as he left. She couldn't sleep and decided to lie on her bed and wonder why the Elric brothers were constantly targets of unfriendly things until finally she passed out from exhaustion.

* * *

Meanwhile, back in Central, Roy yawned in boredom as he stared at the phone on his desk. It was well after hours and most employees had gone home.

"General?" A familiar timid voice called out from the hallway, causing Roy to break out of his stupor and stare in surprise at the door.

"Sciezka? Why are you here so late?"

She sighed. "He made me stay late to work on some files that needed to be done for tomorrow."

Roy chuckled. The man that had replaced Archer was like Hughes when it came to working poor Sciezka to the bone.

"You aren't using headquarters' phones for personal business again, are you?" She asked worriedly.

Roy threw up his hands. "You caught me. I'm waiting for a phone call from Marian. She'll be getting off work soon and I told her I'd wait here until I got her call."

Sciezka sighed in exasperation. "General you really should stop doing this; you could get into serious trouble."

Roy chuckled. "Then just don't tell anyone. Keep it a secret, all right?" He asked with a sly tone in his voice.

Sciezka shook her head. "If you get caught, I'll deny ever knowing anything about it, sir. And I won't turn you in either."

"Good. I didn't want to turn it into an order. Now be on your way, and that is an order."

Sciezka squeaked in fear. "Yes sir!" She said before running off to attend to her duties.

Riza sighed from behind the door, shutting it to avoid further trouble.

Roy chuckled. "That girl certainly is something…"

Riza shook her head as she handed him some paperwork. "You forgot to do this, sir. It's due tomorrow and it's important." She said sternly.

Roy sighed. "You certainly can be a slave driver, Captain Hawkeye."

"That's why I stayed behind, sir." Roy sighed again as he signed the papers. He handed them back to Riza.

"Thank you, sir." She said, placing the papers in her desk for tomorrow.

Black Hayate yawned and barked happily as he saw Riza putting on her coat.

The sudden ringing of the phone froze Riza in her tracks and silenced Black Hayate.

Roy picked it up. "General Mustang's office." He said casually, suddenly perking up as he heard the voice. "Marian! I was getting worried!" He said happily. "How are you?" He nodded before his expression darkened. "I see… are they okay?" He nodded again. "I understand. Thank you for calling me. I'll see you tomorrow. Send them my regards. Bye." He said, hanging up the phone with a frown.

"Sir?" Riza asked worriedly.

Roy leaned back in his chair with a dark expression. "Marian said some of her friends were attacked tonight."

Riza frowned. "Are they all right?"

Roy nodded. "A little shaken up, but they'll be fine." He said, standing up and grabbing his coat.

"Come on, I'm done now." Riza nodded and motioned for Black Hayate to follow, which he did without needing a leash.

* * *

Roy and Riza stood at the bottom of the stairs. "Are you ever going to tell Fullmetal or are you going to keep toying with him?" She asked in concern as she hooked Black Hayate to his leash.

He shrugged. "It all depends on the circumstances from this point onward."

Riza nodded in understanding. "Captain Havoc is returning from his vacation tomorrow."

"Oh? I thought he wasn't due back for at least a week?" Roy asked in surprise.

Riza shook her head. "He says his mother is feeling much better. She actually told him to return, saying that if he stayed any longer he may lose his job."

Roy chuckled in amusement. "That sounds like Mrs. Havoc. Although if Havoc did lose his job, it wouldn't be on my orders… he's far too valuable to me."

Riza nodded. Havoc was the second best shot after her.

Roy knew his flames wouldn't always be able to protect him and Riza and Havoc were his best defence should his flames fail. "I'm going to visit Madame Christmas for a while. Please be careful going home, Captain."

Riza nodded. "You too, General. Come on, Black Hayate."

Black Hayate barked in acknowledgement as she saluted Roy before walking away.

Roy watched her with concern until she was out of sight before walking towards his favourite hideaway.


	19. Chapter 18: Preparing for the Worst

Chapter 18: Preparing for the Worst

Havoc sighed in exhaustion as he stepped off the train in Central. "I was hoping for a nice peaceful vacation…" He muttered as he cracked his neck.

He was surprised as he noticed Roy and Riza within the throngs of the crowd, looking as though they were waiting for someone.

Havoc grinned as he approached them. "Wow General, I didn't know you would come and meet me."

"I'm not here for you, Captain." Roy snapped in irritation as he walked towards the trains.

Havoc stared at his back in confusion for a few moments as Riza stood beside him. "What was that all about?"

"Fullmetal came to Central today. He was supposed to have met with General Mustang immediately after his automail was replaced, but apparently he took a side trip to Rush Valley with Winry."

Havoc shook his head. "So Ed shirked on his orders, eh? No wonder the General's in a bad mood."

Riza nodded. "Fullmetal isn't seeing General Mustang immediately upon arrival either. He stated on the phone before taking the train that he would be seeing Winry off, checking into his hotel, and then doing some sight seeing before coming to headquarters."

Havoc couldn't help but chuckle as he placed a cigarette in his mouth. "So basically, General Mustang decided to trap him at the train station so he could avoid the headache of waiting for Ed to arrive?"

Riza nodded in irritation. "You summarized the situation well, Captain. Anyways, how was your vacation?"

Havoc blinked at her in surprise. "It was good. Dad had me slaving away at the family store though, so it wasn't much of a vacation."

"I'm sorry to hear that, Captain. Unfortunately, there is a stack of papers that General Mustang delegated to you sitting on your desk awaiting your return. Let's head back to headquarters so you can get started on them."

The cigarette in Havoc's mouth fell as it hung open in shock.

"Come on, Captain." Riza said sternly.

Havoc sighed as he chalked the cigarette on the ground as a loss and followed Riza reluctantly. "He always does this when one of us goes on vacation…" He grumbled.

Riza kept silent, knowing what he said was true.

* * *

Roy waited patiently for Ed and Al as they saw Winry off on a train that was heading to Risembool.

Once the train was out of sight, Roy approached them. "Nice try Fullmetal, but I decided I didn't want to play the waiting game with you today."

Ed sighed in defeat and shrugged his shoulders. "Honestly? I wasn't in the mood to play it with you either. I knew you'd get irritated and would come to get me if I told you I wasn't going to be there right away." Ed said smirking slyly at Roy, who could only chuckle in amusement.

"We know each other too well. The games I used to play with your head aren't fun anymore."

"Why? Is it because I've caught on to them? Heh, you're a sore loser, General."

Roy closed his eyes as a bemused expression appeared on his face. "I just know when to call it quits, Fullmetal. Come on. I've got some important matters that I need to discuss with you."

Al looked uncertainly between the two men.

"You can come too, Alphonse. I don't like keeping you out of the loop unless it's absolutely necessary."

Al stared at Roy in surprise as Roy began walking away.

"Don't look so surprised, Al. I always kept you in the loop because Mustang basically allowed it. He never told me to keep anything I was told to myself. He knew you'd always come with me on whatever mission he sent me on, but for appearances sake he only allowed me to come to his office. Now that we aren't going behind the higher ups' backs like we used to, it's all right to bring you with me now." Ed explained before following Roy.

Al smiled, shaking his head. "Those two are alike in so many ways…" He muttered beneath his breath before following.

* * *

Breda, Falman and Fuery stared in surprise as Ed and Al entered the office behind Roy. "So what does the General want with you now?" Breda whispered to Ed, who could only shrug his shoulders.

"Breda, Falman, Fuery! I want you to head to these locations and scout them out. Some rumours have been flying around and I don't like them." Roy snapped, handing each of them a slip of paper and a book.

"Yes sir!" They said, saluting and leaving the office quickly.

A large pile of papers rested on the desk that Havoc usually sat at.

Riza stood beside Roy's desk silently as he sat, motioning for them to do the same. Once they did, Riza moved swiftly towards the door. After a quick check of the empty hallway, she shut the door and locked it.

Al stared at her in confusion as Ed frowned at Roy. "What's going on, General? It must be something serious if you're kicking your subordinates out and locking the door to prevent intrusion…"

Roy gave Ed the same frown he was receiving from the younger man. "You're right."

Riza remained by the door, just in case somebody tried to enter.

Al stared at Roy in surprise before it quickly turned to worry. "What's wrong, General?"

"I'm not going to dance around it: I know what happened to you in Liore and Rush Valley."

Ed's frown turned into a scowl. "You had us followed, didn't you?"

Roy nodded sternly. "Ever since reports of a strange shadow roaming around Central reached me, I knew that for some reason, it would go after you. You two never seem to be able to avoid attracting trouble."

Ed sighed in defeat, knowing he was right. "So who'd you have following us?" He asked flatly.

"Marian." Roy said simply.

Ed and Al looked at him in confusion before a noise from Havoc's desk drew their attention.

"Hey you two! It looks as though my skills have improved if neither of you noticed me." Havoc said as he stood, waving casually to the brothers.

Roy chuckled. "I believe it's only because they've gotten rusty."

"Ouch. Way to crush my hopes, General." Havoc said, grinning, as he put a cigarette in his mouth.

Ed stared at Roy flatly. "You sent Havoc to follow us? Somebody we'd instantly recognise if we did notice him? You're the one who's gotten rusty, General."

Roy and Havoc laughed. "Never in a million years would you have noticed him." Roy said with a sly grin.

"I was dressed up in various disguises. You passed me several times in Liore, Dublith and Rush Valley and never noticed me."

Ed and Al's expression caused Roy to laugh at them. The laughter was quickly cut off as he returned to the topic at hand. "Do either of you know what that shadow is or why it's specifically targeting you?"

Ed threw his hands up. "I wish we did, General. We'd have taken care of the source by now if we did."

"Tell me everything you do know about it."

Al glanced at Ed worriedly. Since Al had never actually had any physical contact with the shadow, Ed had to be the one to do all the talking.

"Whatever is the source of it obviously has a long reach. The first time we ran into it in Liore, my automail cut through it and it vanished as soon as it came into contact with my blade, but I didn't feel any resistance. It was like it was just a ghost or a real shadow." He paused to let the information sink in.

After a few moments, Roy motioned for him to continue.

"The second time in Rush Valley, though… it felt more solid and it didn't vanish immediately. Not only that, but the second time, I saw something over its right eye. It also reformed and attacked Winry. I thought the culprit was in the alley and as I approached the alley, that's when it went after Winry. It was almost as though it knew that attacking Winry would cause me to back off on going into that alley."

Roy nodded in understanding. "I have a feeling I know where it makes its home."

Ed and Al looked at him in surprise as he brought a file out of his desk.

"Against my warnings, the assembly sent a crew into the underground city. They went to secure the cavern to keep it from collapsing and to study what remained of the ruins. Shortly after the assembly lost contact with them, that shadow began to appear."

"So you think that they disturbed something that was lurking in the ruins?" Al questioned gravely.

Roy nodded. "That's exactly what I think. Tomorrow, I want you to go down there and find out what the hell is going on."

"So it'll just be Al and me checking it out?" Ed questioned in irritation. He never liked being sent into something potentially dangerous that even Roy wouldn't go into.

"No." Everyone looked at Roy in surprise. "I'm coming with you."

"General!" Riza's shocked voice yelled at him.

"Calm down, Captain Hawkeye, you're coming too."

That simple sentence seemed to belay any fears she had as she nodded.

"Captain Havoc, you're coming as well."

Havoc seemed taken aback by that sudden order. "Why me?"

"Because, you're the only other person here who knows about this. Besides, you're the second best officer with a gun. We can't be too careful."

Havoc sighed as he shifted the cigarette in his mouth. "Well this will be interesting…" He muttered. "By the way, General Mustang, when you were handing out promotions to us, why did you stop at Captain? It makes me sound like one of those villains you read about in children's books."

Roy smirked at him. "That's precisely why I stopped the promotions at Captain. It's also very amusing to say 'Captain Havoc' all the time."

Havoc, Ed and Al rolled their eyes as Riza remained in an irritated silence.

"Anyways, they'll be back soon. So it's agreed that we'll meet here tomorrow morning to go into the underground city?" He asked seriously.

Ed and Al nodded in unison with Riza while Havoc sighed in hesitation before nodding.

"Good. Don't let anyone know what we're going to do. Breda, Falman and Fuery aren't in on it because we need them to have plausible deniability. They will say what we tell them we're doing, and nobody can try and worm anything different out of them because they believe that to be the truth."

"Is there somebody higher up that you don't trust?" Al asked worriedly.

Roy nodded. "And below me. Director Giles doesn't trust me, so he's been sticking Brigadier General Adran on my tail quite often. I wouldn't put it past them if I were to suddenly vanish from Central to try and worm something out of somebody who knows me."

Ed and Al nodded in understanding.

Riza unlocked the door and opened it just as Breda, Falman and Fuery returned.

"We're done here. Go back to your hotel and get ready. We're going to be leaving for the Southern regions to check out those reports I received. We'll meet here first just to make sure we've got everything we need."

"Yeah, yeah." Ed grumbled as he grabbed his jacket and walked out.

Al nodded to Roy. "Don't worry, sir. We'll be ready tomorrow, even if I have to drag Ed out of bed and down here."

Roy chuckled. "That's fine, Alphonse. I'm counting on you."

Al waved to everyone before leaving.


	20. Chapter 19: Into The Depths

Chapter 19: Into the Depths

The air in Roy's office was tense as Ed and Al sat waiting to leave. Al kept a wary eye on an irritated Ed as the others looked between each other nervously. They really didn't want to be there when Roy returned.

He had apparently been given an early morning assignment from the assembly to do before he left, so Riza and he had taken off before Ed and Al arrived.

"Do either of you want anything while you're waiting?" Fuery asked tentatively.

"We're fine." Ed said tensely, causing Fuery and the others to back off.

"Calm down, Ed. General Mustang is relied on heavily by the assembly. It's only natural that they'd give him things to do before he left. After all, who knows how long we'll be gone for?"

"Don't worry, Al. I'm fine." Ed said with a slightly calmer voice than before.

Havoc sighed as he lugged in some luggage. He was dressed in civilian clothes to make it easier to blend in and disappear when they got to the train station. "Damnit, must she pack everything?" He grumbled as he sat the luggage beside the door.

"What's wrong, Captain?" Falman asked seriously.

Breda and Fuery couldn't help but chuckle as Havoc looked at Falman.

"Thanks to that early morning assignment, I got stuck bringing everyone's luggage up to the office."

"Oh, I see. Would you like some help?" Falman asked.

Havoc shook his head. "Nah, its fine. Don't worry about it."

Ed and Al knew why Havoc refused Falman's offer of help.

With Falman's mental prowess, he would have immediately guessed that the weight of the luggage wasn't due to clothes. The mission would have been compromised if they had to explain why Riza was bringing guns and ammunition, which could have easily been obtained at Southern Headquarters.

Havoc left to retrieve Roy's luggage.

There was a crunching noise that made everyone jump as Ed's automail crushed the arm of the chair he was sitting in. Although his expression was calm, it was obvious that Ed was getting very angry with Roy's absence.

Breda, Falman and Fuery all looked at each other nervously, wishing to leave as soon as Roy allowed them. They never liked being caught in the middle of Ed's anger towards Roy and secretly wished he would stop antagonising Ed.

* * *

After several more nervous minutes, a civilian clothed Roy returned with Riza and a basket full of apples. "Sorry it took so long, but we decided to pick up some breakfast along the way." He said casually, ignoring Ed and Al as he passed a few apples to everyone before taking one for himself. "You can all go out for breakfast. We'll be gone by the time you return, so don't bother seeing us off." He said.

Breda, Falman and Fuery jumped up immediately, thanking Roy before scrambling out of the office.

Roy watched as they ran out of Headquarters, hoping to get as far away as possible before the building came down around their heads. He sighed in relief as soon as they were out of sight. "All right." He smirked at Ed. "That was a good act you put on, Fullmetal. I'm impressed."

"Since you decided to take off before we arrived, against the pre-arrangement, it really wasn't all that hard to get pissed off at you." Ed said. His voice and expression were surprisingly calm for somebody who had only moments ago looked like he was going to beat Roy to within an inch of his life.

Al sighed in relief, glad to know he was only acting.

"Seriously, though, Riza… how much do you have in those suitcases of yours?" Havoc asked, glancing warily at them.

"Considering we don't know what we're up against, probably not enough." Riza said worriedly.

"Don't worry. You and Havoc have enough between your four suitcases, plus mine has some too. I know better than to rely wholly on my Alchemy, although I do have several backup gloves just in case." Roy said as he double checked his suitcase.

Ed and Al sighed. Their suitcases were empty, since their Alchemy was more reliable than the General's.

"Yours are empty, right?" Roy asked suddenly. Ed and Al nodded. Roy smiled in amusement. "I should have known."

"Sir, if we want to make it look believable, we should get going soon. The train heading south will be leaving shortly." Riza said, checking her watch.

"All right, let's go." Everyone nodded as they followed Roy out, carrying their luggage carefully to make it look like it was a mid-term mission south.

* * *

Ed and Al walked slightly behind Roy and his officers. "He's nervous." Ed said worriedly.

Al glanced at him. "What do you mean?"

"He's wearing his gloves even before we reach the train station." He said, nodding towards a hint of white that was visible from his pocket.

Al frowned. "Does he think somebody's already onto us?"

"Probably… We'll just have to keep our guard up."

Al nodded gravely as they made their way into the train station.

Since the platform in the train station was highly packed; they were able to slip away unnoticed.

Hidden down an alley near the station, Roy, Riza and Havoc strapped their suitcases to their backs for easier movement.

Ed and Al abandoned theirs, knowing they would be more of a hindrance than anything.

"All right… Alphonse!" Roy snapped.

Al looked at Roy in surprise. "Yes, sir?"

"Wrath showed you every exit in and out of the underground city, right?"

Al nodded in understanding. "Yes sir, and there should be one near here."

"Lead the way."

Al nodded and carefully walked out of the alley, making sure nobody noticed them as they blended into the crowded Central street.

* * *

They slipped inside an empty building and headed for the basement, taking great care in destroying any trail they created. No chances were being taken. They didn't want to be caught by surprise.

Al pointed to a stone slab with a strange engraving on it. "That's it. This will take us right down to the city."

"Excellent work, Alphonse." Roy said as Al inscribed a transmutation circle onto the stone. With a blue glow, the transmutation circle was activated and the stone melted away, revealing a cavern with a long and winding stairway.

"It's been repaired…" Ed observed gravely.

"I'm not surprised…" Roy said as he brought out two unlit torches. "We may give ourselves away, but it's safer than falling down one of these flights of stairs." He explained, snapping his fingers and igniting the torches.

Ed nodded as he took one of the torches and began walking down the stairs with Al close behind.

Riza and Havoc followed behind Roy as he carried the other torch. "The stairs would have been the first thing the team would have repaired, in case they needed to get out fast." Roy explained quietly.

"How many people were on this team and what did they do?" Ed asked just as quietly.

"I think the team was made up of twenty five people: fifteen alchemists, and ten scientists. All were fully trained for combat situations as a precaution." Roy glanced at Riza, who nodded.

"That's correct, General. They knew your warnings were founded from personal experience, so they trained all twenty five people, but obviously they ran into a situation they couldn't handle…"

"Tsk. They should have listened to him altogether and not sent in a team at all." Ed growled in irritation.

Talk vanished as they continued downwards, the dark staircase seeming to be infinite in length.

* * *

Finally, a light became visible some ways down and everyone picked up their pace. Their eyes narrowed as they tried to adjust to the natural light that streamed in to the cavern.

Roy put out both torches and threw them aside. "Once we're down there, we'll split up and search. Will you two be all right on your own?" Roy asked the brothers worriedly.

Ed nodded. "We'll be fine…" He looked out over the city.

What hadn't been destroyed by Wrath and Gluttony's fight or the invading armies looked to be crumbling from the destabilized ground the opening of the Gate had created. However, in several places, it looked as though somebody had tried to repair certain buildings. The one place that looked the worse for wear was the opera house where Ed had sacrificed himself to bring Al back to life and ended up in the alternate world.

"Be careful, with all those buildings, anything could be lurking around here." Ed warned.

Roy and the others nodded, already on the alert for movement.

Suddenly, a loud screech sounded from above them as a strange bat-like creature dove at them.

Roy reacted immediately by snapping his fingers.

The bat-like creature exploded and fell to the ground, burning up before it hit.

"So much for the quiet approach…" Ed grumbled as he rubbed his ear, which was hurting from the close proximity of the explosion.

"They knew we were coming…" Al observed warily.

Riza nodded as she set down one of her suitcases. Havoc quickly followed as they opened the suitcases to reveal several different guns with several rounds of ammunition for each weapon.

Ed and Al could only stare in surprise at the suitcases.

"Their other suitcases contain only ammunition." Roy explained with a bemused expression as Havoc and Riza loaded their first guns, double and triple checking them to ensure they wouldn't jam in the middle of a heated fight.

"Come on, we'd better move before more of those things come at us." Havoc said warily as he slung the suitcase onto his back.

"That was a chimera, wasn't it, Edward?" Riza asked grimly.

Ed could only nod as they picked up the pace to get to the cover of the city.

* * *

Once they reached the city, they hid in a secure building to make final arrangements.

"If either group runs into trouble, the other will try to get to them as soon as possible." Roy said as they crouched around in a corner where all of the entrances were visible to them.

"What sort of signal should we use?" Al asked.

Riza quickly answered that question by bringing out a flare gun and holding it out to them.

"Only one? What happens if General Mustang isn't able to get off a shot?" Ed asked. He ignored the glare Roy was giving him.

"We have one, don't worry." Riza assured him as he took the flare gun and passed it to Al.

"I have a feeling I'll be the one targeted the most. Keep it handy."

Al nodded. "All right… is that all?"

"If we're finished, and nobody runs into any trouble, we'll meet back here in four hours." Roy snapped.

Ed knew he was looking out for their safety, so he remained silent and nodded with the rest.

"Good luck."

"Be careful."

"Everyone promise now that we'll make it out of here alive." Everyone looked at Ed in surprise. He was the last one they expected to make such a statement.

"Only as long as you intend to make it out alive with us." Roy said.

The challenging smirk on Roy's face caused one to appear on Ed's.

"I intend to, General. You'd better make it out of here too; I've still got a lot of ass kicking to deliver to you."

Roy nodded. Al, Riza and Havoc nodded in silent promise.

"Let's go…" Ed said grimly as they stood.

"Remember: four hours if you don't run into trouble." Roy reminded the brothers as they began walking out of the building.

"You too…" Ed replied before he and Al headed for the centre of the city.


	21. Chapter 20: Threat Revealed

Chapter 20: Threat Revealed

Almost as though it was a magnet, the brothers were drawn towards the ruins of the theatre where Ed battled Dante and sacrificed himself to bring Al back. No matter how often they tried to avoid it in their examination of the centre of the city, they always ended up back there.

Finally, Ed stopped, frowning at the ruins. "We were meant to come here… No matter what way we took, we were meant to come back here…" He said, barely audible to Al.

Al paled as he stared at the building. "What does that mean, brother…?"

"It means General Mustang and the others are in serious trouble." He said, glaring at the building. "Whatever is here wants us alone. General Mustang and the others will be attacked by whatever else is running rampant in this city. We didn't encounter anything, and that bat chimera went for Roy specifically…"

"They'll be fine… they're the best in the military…" Al said, trying and failing to be confident. "W-we should go find them!" Al said worriedly.

"No. It's too late. We're already in her trap…" Ed growled.

"Who's?" Al asked.

"Get your ass out here now, Dante!" Ed roared, causing the colour to drain from Al's face.

Of all the scenarios that had run through his head, Dante was never among them.

* * *

"I am so glad you came! Unfortunately, I am not this Dante you speak of." Lyra's joyous voice was heard from behind the Elrics.

Ed turned with a dangerous expression on his face as he turned to face the woman, who smiled happily at the brothers. Her hair obscured her right eye and she wore a dress similar to those worn by Lust and Sloth, but otherwise she looked exactly as she had in their final encounter.

Al's expression was almost as dangerous as Ed's as she approached. It was a strange expression to see on the normally gentle face.

Lyra's hand raised as the brothers shifted into a defensive stance. "I wish to let you know that Noah is safe with a band. I kept my promise." It said happily.

"The homunculus…?" Al asked, a bewildered expression replacing the dangerous one.

Pain nodded as Ed continued to glare.

"Why should we believe you? You lied to us just like all the others of your kind did." He growled. Al looked at him worriedly as Pain frowned.

"Unlike those other trash, I choose to keep my promises." She said, her tone quickly turning angry at the mention of the other homunculi. "However, you're right: I did lie to you. I knew you were gullible; that you would believe anything should I spin it just right."

* * *

The façade Pain had been presenting finally dropped. "This is my true form, and I have a name: it's Pain. Dante made me in case something should happen to her. She sealed me away here for safe keeping. None of the others knew of my existence. She liked the form of that Lyra girl, so before she jumped bodies, she created me in Lyra's image. After creating so many homunculi, she got pretty good at making them how she wanted them to be made. After all, look at Pride; she made him so he could age." She giggled in amusement at the thought.

Ed continued to glare dangerously at her, unsure of what her motives were.

"I wanted to get you back to the world you belonged in. Dante said I was to keep an eye on you should anything happen to her. It was hard to do when you were on the other side of the Gate."

"So that's why you brought us back?" Al asked tentatively.

Pain nodded. "Yes. Dante had plans she wanted you to fill, Edward, but with you in a world where Alchemy was nearly impossible, it would have ruined those plans."

Ed made a noise in his throat at the mention of plans.

"I lost my form, but gained something much more valuable. I must thank you: every one of the homunculi I took the form of, with some exceptions, I have gained their abilities."

Ed and Al paled at the implications hinted at with that one casually spoken sentence.

"Do you wish to see my mark?" She asked in amusement as she shifted the hair covering her right eye, revealing the Uroboros marking above her eye.

"If you're a homunculus, then what is your ability…?"

Ed raised his hand, causing his brother to trail off as he transmuted his automail. Suddenly, he turned and slashed at the shadow creature that was in mid-lunge behind them. "That's her ability: shadow manipulation." Ed said with a growl.

Al noticed her shadow appear beneath her feet; a small detail he hadn't noticed before.

"What gave it away?" She asked with a tone that was torn between pouting and amusement.

"You revealed your Uroboros tattoo. I noticed something above that shadow beast's right eye the last time you attacked me in Rush Valley." Ed growled.

Pain shrugged in defeat. "True. Afterwards, I felt it was a mistake to do that. With my physical body now in this world, my shadow manipulation would have had a stronger presence. I never figured you would have caught on to that. You're more intelligent than Dante led me to believe."

"So you sent your shadow ahead before you sent us through the Gate to throw suspicion completely off you, then when you had gotten Noah out of the way, you came through the Gate yourself to finish whatever plans Dante had for you. Smart. We never would have noticed a missing shadow, or would have chalked it up to your lack of physical form."

Pain smiled happily at Ed. "Indeed. You really are a clever boy." Her eyes narrowed. "I have no desire to attack you; Dante ordered me to keep you alive." She sighed, almost as though she was irritated with that order.

* * *

"You however…" She said, turning to face Al. "Your lack of desire to help Dante caused her a lot of grief, and then she was eaten by that fat tub of lard!" She practically snarled at her creator's fate. "You, I have no qualms about killing." She said icily as her shadow launched suddenly at Al.

The ground between Pain and Al suddenly broke apart and collapsed, forcing the shadow to retreat back to Pain.

Pain glared at Ed, who was kneeling on the ground with his hands resting just shy of the large crack that had appeared in the ground. "Please don't interfere. I have orders not to kill you, but I will break those orders if you continue to interfere."

Suddenly, a flood of water that had been her arm launched at Ed. Caught off guard, Ed was knocked away easily, landing in an unconscious heap nearby.

"Brother!" Al yelled worriedly as the shadow lunged at him from across the crack. Concern for his brother slowed his reaction as the shadow threw him against a nearby building.

Pain began to approach Ed slowly. Her orders involved the creation of another Philosopher's Stone and using Ed to accomplish it. Why she was ordered to create it hadn't been discussed, as Ed had arrived far too early for her to give Pain any further instructions before being sealed away. Those Tringham brothers would pay dearly for their interference, once she had dealt with the Elrics…

* * *

Al wiped the blood away that trickled down his forehead. He now had a pounding headache from the impact with the building. "Stay away from him!" He yelled as he realized she was walking towards Ed.

Pain looked back at him in irritation as he stood.

"I guess I should thank you…" He said as a grin slowly spread across his face.

"You should have stayed down. You have no need to thank me."

"Yes, I do. The time you attacked us in Liore, I realized I had forgotten how to transmute without a circle. Now thanks to that little blow to my head…" He clapped his hands together and slammed them onto the ground.

A look of horror crossed Pain's face just as several spikes erupted from the ground and pierced her repeatedly, hiding her from view.

Al ran over to check on Ed. Aside from being unconscious; he had a few cuts from hitting the ground, but otherwise appeared to be fine. Al's relief was short-lived as a strange slashing noise caught his attention, drawing it towards the spikes.

There was a strange flash in the air around the spikes, which crumbled in clean slices.

Pain stood, dusting herself off as her nails returned to their normal length. She frowned at Al. "I guess I won't hold back against you…" She said grimly as her shadow launched at him again.

He responded by launching spikes at it.

Pain laughed in amusement as the shadow split up, avoiding the spikes and grabbing Al.

Al's curse was cut off as he was flung again. He stood up and launched another attack at her quickly before going for the flare gun, knowing Roy's quick flame strikes would help slow her down.

"Tsk, tsk. No calling for aid now…" She said as the carbon shielding that was Greed's ability melted away.

The spikes crumbled around her, the stone unable to break through the shield as she stepped towards Al.

Her shadow snaked up Al's body and snagged the flare gun. With one smooth motion, Al was thrown one way and the flare gun was tossed towards where Ed lay unconscious. "Besides, your precious General and his soldiers are already dead…" She said icily as she advanced towards Al, who was fighting to remain conscious after that last throw.


	22. Chapter 21: Struggle

Chapter 21: Struggle

Roy sighed as he removed a shredded pair of gloves.

The ground was littered with chimera corpses, along with various projectiles several of the chimeras could utilize.

"The war did us some good… we would have been dead from being out of practice if it weren't for the west's ambitions." He said in a weakly bemused voice.

Riza and Havoc looked over their remaining guns and ammunition. "Wow, I'm amazed… considering how many attacked, we've still got a fairly good supply of guns and ammo." Havoc said as he and Riza opted to abandon the suitcases.

They pocketed as many remaining clips of ammunition and guns as they were able to carry.

Roy followed suit by pocketing his remaining gloves and ammunition for the single gun he carried.

The sudden blaze of a flare caught their attention.

"It looks as though our break is over. Let's go." Roy said gravely as he began running towards the source of the flare.

Riza and Havoc snatched up a few more clips of ammunition before running after Roy.

"Knowing their luck, they ran into the source of all our troubles." Roy said with grim amusement.

Suddenly, a winged serpent appeared out of a nearby building and launched itself at Havoc. Before he could react, the chimera dropped to the ground dead, a precise hole where an eye once resided. Havoc glanced back at Riza in appreciation before they resumed walking.

This time they were more careful in case any more chimeras attacked.

* * *

Ed awoke to a scene of absolute destruction.

Several broken spikes, cracks in the earth, broken walls and various transmuted weapons littered the ground. Several buildings had been damaged or destroyed.

He found it hard to get his eyes to focus, but when they did he quickly paled.

Pain was holding a struggling Al by his neck above her head with a watery tentacle in place of her arm. One of her extended nails was mere inches from his temple.

He cursed as he stood, knowing he would have to move fast to save Al. He noticed the flare gun nearby and grabbed it as he slipped amongst the ruins.

Pain was speaking to Al, neither person noticing him as he slunk up behind Pain.

Quickly firing off the flare gun, he transmuted it into a throwing knife similar to one of the ones Maes Hughes used to use and threw it at her.

The knife hit its mark, striking Pain squarely in the back of the neck, causing her body to collapse as the spine was severed.

Al quickly ran to his brother's side, gasping for air. "I was worried she had really hurt you, brother. You hadn't moved at all." Al said, grateful that his brother was alive.

"I just hope General Mustang and the others will get here fast." Ed growled.

Al lowered his head worriedly. "She said she sent the entire chimera army she forced the alchemists to create for her after them. She says they couldn't have survived facing that many chimeras…"

"And why should we believe anything she says?" Ed growled, although he was secretly just as worried as Al was about them.

Pain stood, her body fully recovered once she pulled out the knife, and glared back at them. "That was very impolite, Edward." She said icily as she tossed the knife away.

"Heh… I've always been told I'm pretty rude." He retorted as he transmuted his arm.

Al transmuted a spear similar in likeness to the one Ed had used on multiple occasions.

Ed quickly put aside the questions that had suddenly burst into his head over his brother's odd transmuting habits and pointed his blade at her. "Sorry, but I don't intend on being anyone's puppet."

Her eyes narrowed. "I'm glad to hear that… I hated following Dante's orders without knowing the reason… Now I'll just kill you both…" She said as her shadow lunged at them.

The brothers separated just as the shadow would have struck them and moved away as it split to try and get to them. The brothers regrouped in front of the ruins of the theatre as Pain advanced on them.

"You humans are a tenacious bunch, I'll grant you that." She said in irritation. Her eyes drifted to Ed's left leg. "That automail is so troublesome…" She said as her tone shifted from irritation to pure anger.

A tendril of water snuck away from her and made its way towards Ed. Before Ed could react, the tendril rapidly slunk into the cracks between the skin plating of his leg.

"What the-?" His words were cut off as he suddenly lurched sideways. He had lost all feeling in his leg, which then collapsed at the knee, causing him to overbalance and fall.

"Sloth truly was lazy if she couldn't even destroy the internal structure of your mechanical leg." Pain said loftily.

"Brother!"

"Run Al!" Ed yelled as he saw the shadow once again rushing towards Al.

Al cursed as he tried to move, but was caught by a tendril that had lunged ahead of the main body.

He was thrown hard into the ruins of the theatre, trying hard not to cry out as severe pain gripped him. His right leg had been broken as he landed on some pieces of a ruined wall. He could hear his brother screaming his name, but the pain threatened to overwhelm him and he couldn't reply. He almost wished he was a suit of armour again as the pain seared through his body; however the pain reminded him that he was human, and for that he was surprised to find that he was grateful to the homunculus.

* * *

Pain began to slowly advance toward Ed, her arm shifting into the same spike-like object that had killed him before.

Ed paled as the scattered memories of that moment before he died flashed before his eyes. Fear gripped him and froze him more effectively than the disabled leg could ever have hoped to.

She smiled. "Ah, so you remember this… I saw it in a small corner of your mind and filed it away should this occasion arise…" She said gleefully. She was enjoying the mental trauma that Ed was experiencing as he stared blankly at the instrument that had once caused his demise; the instrument that would certainly be the cause of his demise once again.

A shriek of pain snapped him out of it as she erupted in flames.

"General!" Ed said in surprise as Roy, Riza and Havoc walked swiftly towards the homunculus, weapons pointed at her as she lay on the ground motionless.

"What happened?" Roy snapped.

"The bitch disintegrated the inner workings of my leg, and then she threw Al into the theatre. I don't know if he's all right." Ed growled as he transmuted his leg, stiffening it so that it would support his weight, but it would drastically reduce his speed.

Riza and Havoc helped him up as Roy kept a watchful eye on Pain.

"Be careful, she can use the others' abilities. Her ability is shadow manipulation." He growled. He transmuted a pipe into a staff to help him walk before limping off to find Al.

Pain began to quickly regenerate, using her shadow manipulation to distract Roy, Riza and Havoc from the real threat that was reviving behind them. She brushed the charring from her shoulders and aimed her elongated nails at Roy.

An intense desire to kill him was vivid on her face as she readied to pierce his back while he fought off her shadow with Riza and Havoc. Her expression quickly turned to shock as a large spike ripped through her abdomen. She slumped over it, and her nails returned to their normal length as she died again.

The shadow immediately vanished as they turned to see why.

* * *

Ed was supporting Al, who was limping with a makeshift splint wrapped around his broken leg. "Did you forget about their regeneration?" Ed growled angrily at Roy.

"I didn't, but her shadow was giving us hell. We need to get away from her before she revives. Distance will have to be our weapon."

Ed nodded as Havoc and Riza took over supporting Al so they could move away quickly.

Pain revived quicker this time, as it wasn't a full body injury. She slashed away the top of the spike and casually slipped off what remained, brushing herself off just as casually as her shadow returned, lunging after the fleeing humans.

"General Mustang! Edward! Alphonse! We need cover until we can reload!" Riza yelled as she emptied the last of her clip into the quickly advancing shadow.

Roy quickly complied by turning and snapping quickly. Explosion after explosion rend the ground as the shadow tried to continue its advance.

Al and Ed created a large crack just behind the fire line in case it split to try and slip through the explosions that were raining down in it.

"Clear!" Riza called as she aimed beyond the explosions and fired. Suddenly, the shadow vanished.

Once the smoke cleared, Pain was standing with a hole in the middle of her forehead. The hole vanished and she charged at them angrily. Suddenly, it was as though she was launching a full assault against the humans: her shadow split and lunged at the same time her one arm turned into a torrent of water that shot at them while the other extended its nails to the fullest extent.

"Scramble!" Roy yelled in horror as the onslaught approached.

Without any hesitation, the group split and ran with the occasional retaliation to keep Pain's attacks at bay.

* * *

Havoc cursed as he rolled to dodge the torrent of water that had followed him. Aiming the two guns he was carrying, he unloaded the clips into Pain's body, striking all the lethal points with ease.

All attacks ceased as she died again.

"How many more deaths does she have in her?!" Havoc asked indignantly as he stood, reloading his gun quickly.

"We don't know! Who knows how many red stones Dante fed her before sealing her away?" Ed called from across the square.

The scramble had separated them and the distance between each fighter was too great to close fast enough to beat her regeneration speed.

"Damn… she's got us right where she wants us…" Roy growled beneath his breath as he saw this.

As he tried to figure out who she would go after, he paled suddenly. "Havoc! Run!" He roared.

The realization came too late as Pain stood up suddenly.

Havoc aimed his gun at her again, but the homunculus was too fast for a human's reaction speed.

Her extended nails pierced through him easily. The stunned look on Havoc's face froze as his legs gave out beneath him.

Roy and the others stared in horror before charging at the homunculus, enraged at the sight before them.

A small trickle of blood slipped from Havoc's mouth as her nails shrank. It was apparent that the nails had been the only thing holding him up as he collapsed, face down into the rubble, once they were removed.


	23. Chapter 22: Fight to Fulfil a Promise

Chapter 22: the Fight to Fulfil a Promise

Roy's fury was unparalleled. Watching helplessly as one of his subordinates was fatally attacked was one thing he had vowed never to allow, and here it happened right before his eyes. His fingers were snapping so fast, they were almost a blur as Pain fled.

She deftly avoided the explosions by sending her shadow at him, forcing him to defend himself and stop his assault on her.

His attacks provided Riza, Ed and Al with a distraction as they rushed to Havoc's side.

"Is he…?" Ed asked worriedly as he knelt awkwardly with the stiff automail.

Riza sighed in relief as she checked Havoc's unconscious form carefully. "He's alive, but barely. Please hurry and transmute something so we can help him."

"General!" Ed shouted as Roy had begun slowly making his way towards them while keeping Pain and her shadow at bay.

"What is it?" He asked as Al took over defending them.

"Can you seal the wounds to stop the bleeding?" Ed asked as he tore the arm from his shirt to use as material for wrappings. His automail arm glistened as Roy began meticulously sealing Havoc's wounds.

"I'm done." He said as both the entrance and exit wounds were sealed.

"All right… Al, can you help Riza with him?"

Al nodded as he and Ed switched places. Al had studied medicine casually during their year in Germany, so Ed knew Al could do a better job than he could.

"Are you ready, Fullmetal?" Roy asked grimly.

"Whenever you are…" He said with a tone just as grim as Roy's. "We swore we'd make it out of here alive, and I'll be damned if one of us breaks that promise…" He growled.

Roy nodded in understanding. "Protect Havoc." Roy snapped suddenly.

Riza and Al had no time to stop them as they charged towards Pain, who stood waiting for them with a cold smile on her face.

Riza cursed. "Alphonse, with your broken leg, you're better off staying here and protecting Captain Havoc." She said apologetically.

"That's fine. Go and back them up. With Sloth's ability at her disposal, General Mustang is in serious trouble." Al said calmly.

Riza nodded in gratitude before charging after Roy and Ed.

* * *

Pain couldn't help but chuckle at the foolish humans racing to join their friend in death. However, she cursed as she noticed Riza's raised gun as she ran behind the two men.

The woman was an excellent marksman and Pain knew better than to let her get off a shot, especially as she felt her regeneration abilities slowing to dangerously low speeds. Her shadow vanished from beneath her as she assaulted Ed and Roy with watery tendrils that had been her arms to prevent them from getting closer.

The shadow's sudden appearance beside Riza gave her no time to react as it threw her roughly amongst the ruins of a building.

The yell she managed to sound distracted Ed and Roy long enough for the watery tendrils to grab them. The ones that attacked Roy wrapped around his hands so he was unable to use his alchemy before throwing him. The force of the throw caused him to roll repeatedly across the ground.

When he was finally able to stop himself, his left arm hung uselessly at his side. It had broken upon landing. He cursed as he wiped blood from his face before throwing away his useless gloves. Something was seriously wrong with his leg, but since it could still function, he dismissed it for the time being. The pain searing from his broken arm far outweighed the pain coming from his leg.

The tendrils that attacked Ed bound his arms firmly to his side and began to squeeze with the intention to crush his body.

He let out a gasp as he found it harder to breathe while a muffled crunching noise announced that something inside of him was breaking.

Suddenly, the water splashed to the ground and freed him.

While catching his breath, he saw Pain lying on the ground with another life spent. He glanced over to where Riza stood, clutching her side with a smoking gun aimed at where Pain had stood.

* * *

Though now completely exhausted, they regrouped quickly with Al near Havoc's body.

"We need to end this soon…" Roy growled as Riza put a fresh glove on his good hand, his broken arm in a makeshift sling made by Al.

Ed nodded as he watched Pain's still downed form warily. "I think her regeneration is slowing… we may have a chance soon. I just need to exhaust her a bit more." The looks the others gave him made him smile in saddened gratitude. "Don't worry, I promised I wouldn't die this time, didn't I?"

They nodded reluctantly.

"All right…" He looked at Pain as she began to rise again, only to be forced back down by a long ranged explosion by a quick reacting Roy. "How fast can you attack one-handed?" Ed asked of Roy who glanced at him in surprise before smirking in understanding.

"I can strike as fast and as long as you need me to, Fullmetal."

Ed nodded as he glanced at Riza. "How's your ammunition and how fast can you reload if you need to, Captain Hawkeye?"

Riza dropped the clip that was in her gun and loaded a full one in. "Perfectly fine and reloading will be no problem." She said calmly.

"Great… Al… no offence, but with your leg, you're-"

"I know. I'm better off staying back here." Al said in cold amusement.

"Sorry about this."

"It's fine. Just tell us what you want us to do."

Ed nodded. "We'll have to move very fast-"

He was cut off as Roy snapped his fingers again, forcing Pain back down as she began to move.

"Al and Roy will stay here and protect Havoc while keeping her shadow at bay as best they can. Riza will provide me with cover and keep killing her to prevent her from attacking. I'll go in and sever that bitch's head from her shoulders, hopefully ending this once and for all. Once I've done that, unload the last of your ammunition into her body. And torch the remains." He said, glancing at Riza and Roy as he said the last of the instructions.

"Al, once we're in the final stages of finishing her off… please start making a stretcher so we can take Captain Havoc to the surface."

Al nodded in understanding. Even though he wanted to help finish the foul creature off, he knew his job was just as important as theirs.

"All right… let's go…" Ed said grimly as he transmuted another staff, the other one long lost in the chaos of battle.

Everyone nodded as they prepared for their parts in the plan to finally destroy Dante's dark ambitions once and for all…

* * *

Ed limped quickly towards Pain, who had begun to stand shakily after that last attack by Roy.

Riza walked quickly by his side, aiming for her chest as Pain glared challengingly at them.

The shadow lunged at them, only to be met with a series of explosions and spikes.

The shadow then decided that Roy and Al were much better targets and began snaking its way towards them.

Pain's arms began to liquefy, but quickly solidified as Riza began shooting at her. However, unlike before, the shadow continued its futile attempt to get to Roy and Al.

Several bullets struck her in the chest and head, causing her to stagger as she tried to speed up her regenerating abilities.

She noticed Ed as he came within range of her nails, grimacing as the bullets prevented her from doing anything but regenerate.

Riza's hail of bullets stopped as she quickly tried to reload her gun.

Pain took the opportunity to finish regenerating and elongate her nails, slashing at Ed.

Ed had felt the poor repair to his leg begin to give way when he knelt to check on Havoc, and now used that to his advantage as he dropped the staff quickly and rested all of his weight on the leg. The leg completely collapsed under the strain and Ed used the momentum from the fall to roll under her nails as Riza took up firing again.

As Pain was distracted by the bullets, Ed transmuted his automail.

Riza relented to give Ed an opening, which he took before Pain could react.

With one quick slash of his arm blade, Ed did exactly what he said he would do as Riza ran up and began firing into the body to prevent it from getting up.

Suddenly, flames burst from the body as Roy got within a reasonable range to accurately control his alchemy without risking those close to his target. Roy stopped beside Ed as the two looked down at the burning body with dark looks.

Riza watched the two cautiously. She was deeply worried for their mindsets as they watched Pain burn. "Sir? We should help Alphonse carry Captain Havoc back to the surface. If he doesn't get medical attention soon, he will die." She said quietly.

Roy nodded as he snapped his fingers again.

The fire burnt higher and hotter, forcing everyone to stand back as the flames completely consumed Pain's body. "Come on…" He finally said, turning and limping back to where Al and Havoc were. Whatever had happened to his leg was steadily worsening. He feared by the time they arrived back on the surface that he would have a hard time using that leg.

Ed picked up his staff again and transmuted it to what remained of his leg, creating a new leg that was in the same condition as the one that had just been destroyed. "We'd better hurry, this patch job won't hold out very long…" He said, limping back with Riza.

* * *

Ed shifted his end of the stretcher carefully as Roy walked just as carefully up the stairs with his end.

Riza had tried to lift it, but whatever she had injured in her side refused to allow her to help carry her comrade.

"How are we going to explain these injuries and our sudden return to Central?" Al asked worriedly as he and Riza walked behind them, ready to catch one of them should they stumble.

"We'll tell the truth and apologise for lying to them." Roy said simply. "Considering we have just gotten rid of a threat that could have been as big as Bradley if left unchecked, they'll understand."

"You'll probably get demoted if that Director Giles hates you as much as you claim." Ed said, trying to be sly but failing as the pain from the wounds he sustained finally decided to reveal itself.

"Director Johnson seems to have taken a liking to me. I'll be safe so long as I go straight to him. We need to deal with the more immediate matters first."

Everyone nodded in understanding as they tried to pick up the pace to the best of their abilities.

* * *

Once they reached the surface, Al quickly replaced the stone tile to hide where they came from as they moved much faster on a flat surface.

"The hospital isn't too far from here, let's move." Roy snapped as they limped out onto the street, hoping to make it to the hospital before the improvised healing they did to Havoc became infected or worse…


	24. Chapter 23: Turning Lies into Truths

Chapter 23: Turning Lies into Truths

Roy sat with Riza in the corner of a run-down bar located in a less than savoury part of Central. His broken arm was now in a proper sling and a cane rested across his lap.

Bandages could be seen beneath Riza's civilian clothes. The innumerable cuts and bruises the two sported were mostly healed by now.

He seemed to be lost in thought until two people entered, both on crutches. He smirked as he raised his hand to alert them to his location. "Well, well… the Elric brothers on crutches. It's a nice sight, you two."

"Yeah, and that bum leg of yours will certainly decrease your luck with the ladies." Ed snapped as he sat carefully on another chair. There were bandages visible beneath his shirt as well.

Roy chuckled. "You never know… some women are sympathetic to this sort of thing."

Al sighed as he sat, shifting his broken leg under the table to avoid tripping anyone.

This didn't seem like the sort of place that accidentally tripping somebody would be taken lightly.

"So why the hell did you drag us all the way out to this place? What was so important that you couldn't tell us at your office? Or did you get kicked out for going behind the Assembly's back?" Ed asked. Curiosity and annoyance were apparent in his tone.

Roy shook his head. "I did exactly what I said I would do. As soon as we were admitted to the hospital, I sent for Director Johnson and told him everything. Hell, we're going to be commended for our efforts to protect Central." He said, amused at the prospect. "Director Giles found out and came by trying to get us all thrown out, but Director Johnson warned him. Apparently he's on a very short leash… he may be gone soon…" He said as a sly smirk crossed his face.

"So you're expecting to be promoted to Director Mustang at some point?" Al asked sceptically. He knew there were older, more experienced men that would be more appropriate for the position than Roy, even though he deeply respected Roy.

Roy shook his head. "Not really, although the prospect would be nice…"

"General, please stop getting distracted." Riza said firmly.

Roy sighed and nodded. "I knew there was a reason I brought you." He said before staring intently at Ed. "There are some things I needed to tell you, and I felt that headquarters wasn't an appropriate place."

Ed frowned. "So you did do something that would piss somebody off in headquarters if it got back to them…"

Roy shrugged. "Just hear me out and you can decide for yourself…"

Ed could only nod, wondering what Roy had to say.

* * *

Roy hesitated as he looked around, checking to ensure that no rats of the military were in the bar before continuing. "First of all…" He nodded to Riza, who promptly pulled out a folder and set it on the table before Ed.

Ed blinked in surprise upon opening it: it was his State Alchemist file.

"I have to apologise… I was, once again, manipulating you."

Ed glared at Roy, but the glare quickly softened upon seeing the sad, tired expression on Roy's face.

"What do you mean you were manipulating Ed again?" Al asked worriedly.

"After a year of no contact, State Alchemists are classified as 'M.I.A.'. Two years with no sightings from anyone that knew you made them believe you were dead. The file was ordered destroyed shortly before that attack on Central. Nobody mentioned you came back with them, hell, nobody even mentioned you were there. You should thank them when you get the chance. You could have been branded a traitor for that." Roy said grimly.

Ed's expression darkened as he listened, but he nodded in understanding when Roy suggested thanking everyone who had covered for him a year ago.

"Captain Hawkeye rescued the folder, just in case. I always held out hope that you would return. Don't ask why. Probably because of how stubborn you've always proven to be."

Al sighed. "General, please stop trying to antagonise Ed…"

Ed shook his head. "I'm fine, don't worry about it." He said. He voice was surprisingly calm, considering the storm that had begun to brew in his eyes. He loathed deception of any kind, and it was apparent that Roy had pulled a large one since his return.

* * *

Roy stopped talking as the bartender brought him and Riza drinks they had ordered upon arrival. "Do either of you want anything?"

"No." Ed said simply.

Al shook his head.

Roy nodded to the bartender, who nodded in return before leaving.

"If I'm not a State Alchemist anymore, then how the hell was I able to access my research funds?"

"This deception has been running for a very long time…" Roy said, pausing to take a drink. "Once Al was found alone by that Rose girl, it was obvious to me what had happened. I immediately siphoned what remained of your research funds into a private account, and then manipulated your State Alchemist file to reflect that. A quarter of my pay went into that account each time."

Ed paled upon hearing that, simply because even a quarter of a General's pay was nothing to scoff at.

"Although, when I had begun to lose hope and gave up my rank and took that post up north, I stopped putting anything into the account. After that attack on Central, and learning you were really alive, I redoubled my efforts and increased the amount I put into the account."

Whatever colour had returned to Ed's face promptly vanished. "What do you mean by redoubled…?" He asked weakly.

"Half of my pay." Roy said simply.

Al nearly fell out of his chair. "Are you serious, General?" He gasped in shock.

Roy nodded.

"Why…?" Ed asked as he began to recover.

All hatred at being manipulated had vanished now as he wondered why Roy would go to such lengths just for somebody he used to manipulate, blackmail, and anger simply for the fun of it.

Roy shrugged as he took another drink, falling silent as a few drunken patrons staggered past them while trying to find the door.

"Call it atoning for my past behaviour, if you will. At first, you were just a pawn I could use to further my own gains while allowing you to seemingly do your own thing… but then, as time went on and the situation you two had gotten yourselves into got worse and worse…" He sighed, shaking his head. "Basque Grand would laugh in my face if he heard me say this…" He said.

Riza put a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

He nodded in gratitude to her. "I began to grow attached to you two. You went from being pawns to being like younger brothers I felt compelled to protect. Which is why I was so pissed off at you for taking off like you did back then without trying to come to me for help." He said, glaring at Ed.

It was obvious that it still stung that the brothers shirked his help and opted to become fugitives that he was forced to hunt.

Ed countered his glare with one of his own before both men looked away.

"It was also due to the fact that if you had come back and I convinced you to keep your State Alchemist license, it would have been suspicious if you had gone to withdraw money and there was none." He said, regaining his composure.

Al and Riza sighed in defeat, knowing that the stubbornness the two men possessed was infinite and any hope of them acting like friends was futile.

"Anyways… technically, you've never been part of the military this entire time. If the higher ups got wind of that, Director Giles would have put every one of us in jail and stripped us of everything."

"I can see you going to jail, but why me?" Ed asked worriedly.

"Impersonating a military official." Riza explained. "General Mustang would be jailed on various conspiracy charges. The rest of his staff would be jailed on the same charges, even if we denied any knowledge."

Ed and Al paled at the thought of Riza and the others being jailed just because they were Roy's subordinates.

"A State Alchemist is a military official, even if they don't follow the same rules as normal military officials do. Since you've been running around calling yourself a State Alchemist all this time, against official records that say otherwise, that would mean you were impersonating a State Alchemist."

Al looked at Ed, whose eyes narrowed as anger began to build up again. "All for one last pull of the puppet strings? You'd risk sending all of us to jail just to manipulate me one last time?" He growled. It was apparent that his anger was barely being controlled.

Riza raised a hand in warning. "Alphonse too would be arrested should word of this get out, for the same reasons as me and the others would be. So be careful with how you choose to react to this information, Edward."

That statement quickly quelled Ed's anger.

"So let's keep this between us, shall we?" Roy asked. His eyes narrowed at Ed, who reluctantly nodded in agreement. "Good. The money in the private account is yours to keep. It's quite a bit, and it should keep you secure for a while. Although I suggest that you do a better job at maintaining your automail or else the Rockbells will drain it from you pretty fast." Roy said with a smirk. "I have a proposition for you, though."

Ed frowned at the thought of any proposition Roy would offer him. "What?" He snapped quietly.

"You can choose to hand over your watch and give up the title of the Fullmetal Alchemist, or you can rejoin the State Alchemist ranks for real this time. Since you are an accomplished alchemist with a highly decorated record, you can skip the trials and regain your certification without any hassle."

Ed's fist tightened around the watch he had been unconsciously holding since Roy began talking. A warning crunch of protest from the lid's hinge made him release it in surprise.

"You don't have to choose right now, in fact, it's best that you don't. You know everything now. Think it over. Remember… no matter what you choose, the money in that account is yours to keep." Roy said as Riza helped him stand.

By the time they had reached the hospital, his leg had become completely immobile.

Al looked at him sadly as he rested his weight on the cane. "Is it permanent?" He asked.

Roy looked at Al in surprise before smiling. "It will heal with time. The doctors say that I will have a permanent limp, but the cane can be thrown away in a few years."

"What about…?" Ed asked softly. He had begun to feel guilty about what happened to Havoc, even though everyone tried to convince him it wasn't his fault.

Roy looked at the floor. He too felt guilty about Havoc's condition. "He's alive and well, but he's paralyzed from the waste down. The doctors say recovery is slim, but Havoc's convinced he can recover enough to be useful to the military again. And you know what…?" He asked, looking at Ed with determination.

Ed stared at him in surprise. "What?"

A sly smile appeared on Roy's face. "I believe him." He said simply before limping away with Riza close behind.

Ed stared at his back until the door shut behind them before ordering a drink.

"Well brother…?" Al asked tentatively.

Ed waited until the drink arrived and quickly downed it before shaking his head. "I don't know, Al… I honestly don't know…" He said quietly, staring at the vacated seats where Roy and Riza sat.

* * *

Only a few days had passed before Ed stood before Roy and Riza in his office.

Roy's dark expression made it clear he had already told them what his decision was. "Are you certain about this, Edward?" He asked, resting his cheek on his good hand.

Ed nodded. "I'm certain, General."

Roy sighed as he motioned to Riza, who promptly produced Ed's file.

Roy rested his hand on it as she placed it on his desk. "You know there are going to be a lot of people furious with you."

Ed took a hesitant breath before nodding again. "I know…" He moved towards the window and stared out it, resting his weight on the crutches.

Getting his leg repaired had been the last thing on his mind the past few days.

"…but I also know I can't settle down anymore. I've been on the road since I was eleven; it's become almost natural for me. Al can still settle down, he's always been the calmer one. I know that if I were to stay in one place for too long, it would drive me crazy."

Roy sighed again, shaking his head. "All right, if you're absolutely certain, I'll begin making arrangements."

Ed looked at him in surprise. "Really?"

Roy nodded. "Yes. By the end of the week, you will be working under me."

Ed frowned at the prospect of working for Roy, but nodded. "Thanks, General."

Roy held his good hand out to Ed, who shifted his weight to free up a hand.

After a quick handshake, Ed began to limp back to the door.

"Welcome to the military, Fullmetal." Roy said grimly.

Ed looked back at him. His expression was just as grim as Roy's tone. "Thanks…" He said before walking out the door.

Riza looked down at Roy sadly. "You were hoping he'd refuse, weren't you?"

Roy nodded as anger flared in his eyes. "Of course I was… although the realistic side of me figured he would rejoin the State Alchemists. I never expected, even in my wildest fears, that he would opt to officially join the military…" Anger and sadness mixed in his voice as he watched Ed walk down the stairs. "I'll just have to keep him safe for them…"

**Fullmetal Alchemist**

"**Return to Chaos"**

**The End**

**

* * *

**

**Author's Note:** This is on my profile, but I decided to post it here as well because I have a feeling more people read this than they do my profile.

Requests are open for Return to Chaos: Bonus Chapters! If you want to see your favourite character (they can't be already dead, sorry) appear in a bonus chapter for Return to Chaos, feel free to PM me and put in your request. Anonymous requests are allowed, but I will be giving notice as to who requested whom, so if you don't want it to come up "XX appearing at the request of Anonymous", then please include your account name. Any of the characters/places who appeared in FMA at least once (including: Psyren, Clause, the Youswell Coal Mining town, etc.) are free game.


	25. Epilogue 1: Five Years Later

Epilogue Part 1: Five Years Later…

Edward sighed in exhaustion as he left Central Headquarters for the day. His standard-issue black jacket was slung over his uniformed arm as he began walk down the stairs, pausing every now and again to acknowledge the salutes he was receiving from lower ranking officers.

"Well I'll be damned… the reports were right. You are back." A sly voice called from the bottom of the stairs.

Edward smirked down at the owner of the voice.

The voice's owner stood looking up at him in a business suit, ignoring the salutes he was receiving.

"Damn, and here I was hoping to avoid you if I left early enough." He said as he feigned disappointment in his voice.

Roy chuckled as Edward stopped at the bottom of the stairs to talk with him. "Well, Colonel Elric? It's been almost three years since you went on your tour of duty…"

Edward made a noise in his throat at the mention of his new rank.

"What's the matter? Want me to demote you?" Roy asked with a cruel smirk.

"Hmph, you would too. I don't know why you ordered me to help with that little scrape out east. General Armstrong had it all under control."

Roy shrugged. "It got you that promotion, didn't it?"

"Like I joined the military for the promotions…" Edward grumbled.

Roy chuckled in amusement. "I know…"

"Director Mustang!" A voice called out from the top of the stairs.

Edward looked up the stairs in surprise as Havoc made his way quickly but carefully down the stairs with the support of the railing, there was a cane hooked over his arm for when there wasn't a railing for support.

He was holding a clipboard containing several papers in his hand. "Phew, I'm glad I caught up to you. You forgot to sign these before you left." He said as he hung onto the railing, holding out the clipboard to Roy.

Roy sighed. "I was hoping to escape before these came…" He said with a bemused expression on his face as he took the clipboard.

Edward smiled happily at Havoc. "It's good to see you up and walking Lieutenant Colonel Havoc. How long can you go before needing the wheelchair now?"

Havoc smiled proudly. "I can go for almost a full day. By this time next year, I probably won't need the wheelchair."

Edward nodded in understanding. "I'm glad to hear it, Lieutenant Colonel."

"Yeah, but I may keep the wheelchair. You'd be amazed at how many women go for guys in wheelchairs!"

"Havoc…!" Edward sighed in exasperation.

"What? Somebody's gotta lay down the line of normalcy around here. I must admit that the market's really opened up since Director Mustang went off it." Havoc said, grinning.

Roy chuckled in amusement as he passed Havoc the clipboard. "See you tomorrow."

Havoc saluted Roy and Edward before beginning to carefully climb the stairs at a slightly slower pace. Suddenly he stopped and turned around just as Edward and Roy were about to walk away. "Oh! Director! Thanks for getting that bill passed! Headquarters has never looked better!" He said with a grin.

Roy laughed and acknowledged him with a quick raise of his hand as he and Edward walked away.

"Some Director of Military Operations…" Ed muttered beneath his breath as he walked alongside Roy.

Roy walked with a faint limp, the constant reminder he bore of their battle under the city.

* * *

Edward sighed once they were far enough away from headquarters. "So the other Directors actually supported that stupid bill of yours?"

Roy nodded. "They did. They realized that our officers needed better freedom of movement and passed it."

"Hmph… The assembly is nothing but a bunch of perverts." Edward said in disdain.

Roy chuckled in amusement.

"So what would you do if I told the Lieutenant Colonel that she'd be wearing a mini-skirt with her uniform the next time she wore it once she returned from leave?"

Roy's expression remained unchanged. "I wouldn't do anything…" He glanced casually behind Edward. "By the way, your hair is on fire." He said with a smirk as Edward reacted quickly, smacking the fire out with his automail hand.

Edward glared at him before noticing the glint of white vanish into his pocket. "I thought you were supposed to give up the alchemy once you were elected to the board?"

Roy shrugged. "I simply explained to them that it would be a morale booster if I joined the soldiers on the battlefield. Besides… as the Flame Alchemist, it wouldn't look too good if I couldn't use my flames anymore, would it?"

Edward rolled his eyes in exasperation. "I'm sure the female soldiers appreciate having been turned into your personal army."

Roy smiled. "Oh? I'm sure a Mini-Skirt Army would be far more competent than some rag-tag bunch of people you'd probably call the Risembool Rangers that you could assemble."

"I'd say bring it on, but then you'd probably nail me with insubordination."

Roy laughed in response.

"I still can't believe she married you. She knows you so well and yet she still married you…" Edward said in disbelief as he shook his head.

Roy shrugged with a content smile on his face. "I was just lucky she accepted."

Ed sighed, shaking his head. "I guess I should congratulate you on that other matter too. I still can't see you as a father, though."

The smile faded though as a look of worry replaced it. "I wish she'd quit the military. Now more than ever…"

Edward shook his head. "And here I thought you knew her. You know she would never leave your side. She'll stay with the military and you until you die or retire… whichever happens first."

Roy looked at Edward with a bemused expression. "That's the first smart thing I've heard you say since we left headquarters…" He sighed, shaking his head. "I know you're right, but I'm allowed to have my wishful thinking."

Edward looked at him with a mixture of amusement and confusion. "Who are you and what did you do with that jerk-ass Director Mustang?"

Roy chuckled. "I guess you can say that he gained a family and grew up… sort of." He added the last piece almost as an afterthought with a smirk.

As they walked on, the conversation died away, finally leaving them completely in silence.

* * *

With only a few blocks to go before they reached his home, Roy stopped suddenly as he pretended to look at some apples a street vendor was selling. "Edward… It's been five years… You never told me what happened…" He said sadly.

Edward looked at him in surprise. The surprise quickly turned into a mixture of sadness and anger as he looked away. "I don't want to talk about it…"

"What happened? If you don't tell me willingly, I'll make it an order. Then I'll slap you with insubordination if you refuse to answer me." He said with a hint of anger in his tone. "I sent you on that three year tour of duty to help clear your head. I had hoped that when you returned, you'd be more willing to talk to me about it." He said, glaring at Edward. Edward sighed,

Despite what the earlier conversations may have implied: Roy had never abused his position of power; some went so far as to say that he actually improved it.

Edward knew that Roy would do anything to force him to tell what happened five years ago when he told Alphonse and the Rockbells his future intentions. "To put it simply, they didn't approve of my career path." He grumbled grudgingly.

"Hmph… That's barely scratching the surface and you know it. You left Central with your injuries nearly healed. You came back to Central looking worse than when we escaped the underground city!" Roy said angrily. "Damnit Edward! I told you not to keep secrets from me." He said worriedly.

"Fine…" Edward said in defeat. "They were furious, all right? Even Al was pissed. I tried to explain my reasons to them, but it quickly turned into a shouting match: Aunt Pinako, Winry and Al against me. I said some things in anger that I now wish I hadn't and Winry attacked me. I let her do what she wanted to me for a while before I finally walked out the door without looking back. I remember hearing her storm onto the porch before screaming at me to never return." He glared sadly at Roy. "Are you happy with that?" He snapped.

Roy looked away. "I'm sorry you had to dreg that up, Edward. I know how much they mean to you…" He put a hand on Edward's shoulder, causing Edward to look at him in surprise. "You should go back. It's been five years. They probably regret what they said as much as you do. You were all so close. You can't allow one bad argument to completely ruin what you had…"

Edward shook his head. "Winry and Pinako can really hold their grudges and Al is just as stubborn as I am."

Roy sighed, admitting defeat on the matter. "Fine… can you stop in for a bit? I'm sure she'd love to see you."

Edward smiled at him as they resumed walking. "Yeah, I can. It'd be nice to see her too."

* * *

Their arrival was met with the happy barking of a surprisingly large dog.

"Settle down." Roy said simply and the dog did as he was told, sitting still with only a slight wagging of his tail.

Edward chuckled as he knelt in front of the dog, rubbing his ear. "Hey Black Hayate… you've gotten pretty big, boy!" He said as he received a thankful lick in return.

The door opened and a woman carrying a small baby walked out. "Hello, Edward. It's been too long." Riza said with a smile as Edward stood to greet her.

Roy carefully took the baby from her so she could hug Edward.

"Thanks, Riza. It's good to see you again." He said as he returned the hug.

"Please, come inside and visit for a while." She said as they broke apart.

He nodded, giving one last pat to Black Hayate before following them inside.

"Would you like anything?" Riza offered as Edward sat in a chair.

"No, I'm fine, Riza. Thanks for the offer. Why don't you sit? You look like you've been on your feet all day."

Riza couldn't help but laugh. "You're right. He's been keeping me on my toes." She said as she motioned to the baby that Roy was holding carefully.

"Do you want to hold him?" Roy asked.

Edward was taken aback by the offer, but nodded happily. "So what's his name?" Edward asked curiously as he took the baby from Roy.

"We named him Maes." Roy said simply.

Edward nodded in understanding.

"Edward, I know this is coming a little late, but you were away for quite some time… we were wondering if you would be his godfather." Roy asked tentatively.

Edward looked up at Roy in surprise, not just by the question but the way he asked the question. "Huh…?"

Riza tried to hide her laughter at his expression. "We've been discussing it since we learned we were going to have a child. No matter what gender, we were going to ask you to be his or her godfather."

Edward blushed slightly as he looked down at their child, who reached out and grasped at his ponytail to playfully tug on it. He chuckled he passed the baby back to Riza. "I'd be honoured." He glanced over at Roy. "Just promise me one thing: you won't turn into Hughes."

Roy burst out laughing and was quickly joined by Riza. "Don't worry. I don't intend to."

"Speaking of… Gracia said she saw Alphonse at Maes' grave earlier today." Riza said, staring at Edward intently.

"You're all conspiring against me, aren't you?" Edward asked, leaning back in the chair.

"Edward, just go and talk to him. Alphonse has always been an easily forgiving person. I'm sure five years is more than enough time. He'll probably be at Headquarters looking for Roy. He always visits Roy whenever he stops by Central."

Edward sighed in defeat. "Fine… you win." Riza and Roy smiled as he stood. "I'll see you tomorrow, Roy. I'll try to visit more often, Riza." He said as he made his way to the door.

Roy and Riza stood outside and waved goodbye as he walked down the street.

Once he was out of sight, he broke into a run, hoping to get to headquarters before Alphonse found out he was back in Central and left quickly.

* * *

Alphonse walked down a hallway in Central Headquarters. He had come to visit Roy, but was told that he had left early for the day. He felt guilty that he didn't visit them more often.

"Alphonse! Hey! It's been a while!" Falman said as he and Fuery approached him together.

Alphonse smiled. "Hey… Major?" He asked tentatively.

Falman nodded. "You have it right, Alphonse. We're Majors now."

"Congratulations."

Fuery blushed slightly. "T-thanks, Al."

"How's Havoc doing?"

"The Lieutenant Colonel is just fine!" A voice said from behind him before Havoc wrapped his arm around Alphonse's shoulders.

"That's great news!" Alphonse said happily.

Breda walked past them quickly, freezing as he saw Alphonse. "Well I'll be damned, both of you in Central at the same time…" He said in surprise.

Alphonse frowned in confusion. "What do you mean, Major Breda?"

"Oh, it's nothing! Forget I said it!" Breda said nervously as he caught Havoc's slight motion stopping him from saying more.

"Of course it's something; you and Edward are in Central at the same time!" Falman slipped, having not noticed the frantic and nervous signalling.

Alphonse's expression became guarded. "Oh…"

Falman balked as the others glared at him. "Of course, knowing Edward, he's probably already gone on some other mission!" He said nervously trying to cover his tracks.

"Uhm, sirs? I'd hate to cut this meeting short, but we've gotta go." Fuery said, checking his watch.

Falman and the others checked theirs before paling. "Indeed you're right, Major! Sorry Alphonse. Maybe we'll see you later!" Falman said as he, Fuery and Breda took off.

"Hey, give him a chance Al. It's been five years…" Havoc said, patting Alphonse on the back before following the others.

Alphonse shook his head as he began to leave headquarters quickly, just in case Edward returned for something.

* * *

Alphonse descended the steps quickly with his head down, hoping to avoid being noticed. With his head down, he wasn't able to see as he accidentally struck shoulders with an officer coming up the steps. "Oh, I'm…" He trailed off as he stared up into the face of Edward. "Brother…" He said in surprise.

"Hey Al…"

Alphonse was surprised to hear a nervous quiver in his older brother's voice.

"Uhm…" Edward looked away for a moment to try and collect his emotions. "Al…? Do you have some free time? I wanna talk…" He asked with a slightly stronger voice.

Alphonse couldn't help but nod as a relieved smile appeared on Edward's face.

"Great… I know a place where we can go to talk privately." He said, leading his brother away from headquarters.

* * *

Alphonse was put into a state of stunned silence as they entered a fairly expensive-looking restaurant.

The waiter standing at the entrance simply looked at Edward before motioning for them to follow him. He took them to a nice room at the back of the restaurant. "Do you require anything, Colonel Elric?"

Edward shook his head. "Not right now, thanks."

The waiter nodded before leaving.

Alphonse's expression caused Edward to laugh; turning Alphonse's stunned expression into a frown.

Noting the frown, Edward quickly stopped laughing and looked down at the table. "This is Director Mustang's favourite hangout, so I come here with him and Riza often whenever I'm in Central. The employees know me so I get in without any reservations and we won't be disturbed." He explained.

"What did you want to talk about?" Alphonse asked, causing Edward to look up at him.

"Well, I really didn't want to talk… just apologise."

Alphonse stared at him in surprise.

"My behaviour back then wasn't exactly my best and I said things I really didn't mean. I'm very sorry… I'm not asking for your forgiveness, I just wanted to apologise…" Edward said, looking away.

Alphonse smiled, which quickly broke into laughter.

Edward looked at him in surprise.

"Who are you and what did you do with my brother?" Alphonse asked when he was finally able to recover.

Edward stared blankly at him for a few moments before breaking out into laughter. "I asked Roy the same thing earlier…" He mused, causing Alphonse to snicker.

As he fell silent, he smiled at Edward. "I missed you, brother. I didn't really realize it until now. I'm sorry. I always knew you didn't mean what you said, and I knew why you chose to join the military…" He looked down at the table. "…but I guess I picked up a few too many bad traits from you…"

Edward chuckled as he reached over the table and rubbed Alphonse's head.

Alphonse smiled happily.

"I'm glad to have you back, Al."

"So…" Alphonse's tone was sly as he grinned at Edward. "It's only been five years and you're already a Colonel? Don't tell me you've turned into Director Mustang on me."

Edward glared at him. "Talk about insulting." He grumbled. He sighed in irritation. "Roy pulled a lot of strings. I started out as a Major, thanks to my record. When he became Director of Military Operations, we all got a promotion. Then the manipulative bastard sent me to help General Armstrong with something in the East and I got promoted again. That's all."

Alphonse couldn't help but laugh at Edward's reaction. "I was worried you had changed too much, but I guess I was wrong." He explained as Edward looked at him in confusion before breaking out into his own laughter.

"So what have you been doing?" Edward asked curiously.

"I'm training to become a doctor." Alphonse said before shrugging casually.

Edward smiled. He had always known they'd end up taking opposite career paths. "Oh yeah, you know those Ishbalan representative positions the assembly couldn't fill?"

Alphonse nodded.

"Our old pals Rick and Leo recently took them."

"That's great! For many reasons…"

Edward nodded in understanding. It meant that the Ishbalans finally trusted the assembly.

The brothers spent the rest of the day catching up before retiring for the evening, grateful that they had finally reconciled after all these years.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Yes, I know it's long. The second part is just as long. Why? Because I felt they needed to be long to get everything in. The reason Al really was mad at Ed was because Ed never confided in Al about his decision to join the military outright. It hurt him because it felt to him like his older brother couldn't trust him enough to tell him about his decision before he made it. Once the second part of the Epilogue is up, I'll slap the Completed status on this project and... take a break. I need one. I've been working almost non-stop on these Rebuilds.


	26. Epilogue 2: Reconciliation

Epilogue Part 2: Reconciliation

The next day, Edward entered Roy's office. "You wished to see me, sir?"

Roy nodded and slid a paper towards Edward.

Edward instantly recognised it as one of the reports he had filled out upon his return. "Is something wrong with it?" He asked worriedly. He had been filling them out for five years now; there shouldn't have been any mistakes.

"Take a look at this." Roy said as he slid another paper beside it. It was a report he had mailed to headquarters two years ago.

Edward frowned in confusion. "What is it?"

"Your writing: it's gotten messier. I know you write with your right hand. Something's wrong with your automail."

Edward paled as he realized what Roy was hinting at. "But I…"

"No excuses. I'm sending you on a two month leave of absence, effective immediately, to get your automail repaired. That is an order, Colonel." Roy snapped.

Edward was cornered now. All he could do was nod and turn to leave.

"Give my regards to the Rockbells." Roy said. His tone was a lot gentler than it had been a moment ago.

"Yes sir…" Edward said quietly before leaving to go pack.

* * *

"Brother…?" Alphonse asked tentatively as he stood outside. He had come to see what Edward did for the military when Roy's summons came.

"I'm being sent on a two month leave of absence. Apparently my handwriting's gotten bad so Director Mustang is sending me to get my automail repaired."

Alphonse's wince was noticed by Edward.

"So… they still hate me?"

"Nobody talks about you, but I'm pretty sure they're still mad. They never really hated you, they just were really angry. And Winry is as stubborn as you are."

Edward sighed as his head dropped, his chin hitting his chest. "Damnit."

"I'll come with you and try to soften them up." Alphonse said, although he was just as nervous as Edward was about returning to the Rockbells. "Although I think you will get some points if you haven't had anyone else touch the automail since Winry made you the new leg before you told us your intentions."

"I haven't. I doubt anyone could replicate her work anyways."

Alphonse nodded. "Let's go back, brother."

Edward smiled nervously before nodding. "Sure… I just hope I can come back alive."

Alphonse couldn't help but laugh as they left headquarters.

* * *

As they descended the stairs, a wobbly tower of papers caught their attention.

"Sciezka?" Edward asked as he tried to fight back amusement. He and Alphonse quickly took parts of the stack so the person behind it was visible.

"Oh! Colonel Elric! I was just taking these to the new first branch!"

"It's about time they finished it." He said, no longer able to hide his amusement.

"Oh, the exterior isn't fully completed, but it is secure enough that the books and records can be brought over without worrying about being damaged." She squeaked.

Like all other female personnel, she was wearing a shorter skirt than she used to.

"So even the desk workers got suckered into that bill?" Edward asked with a shake of his head.

Sciezka could only nod. "Yes, we did." She blinked in surprise as she noticed Alphonse. "Al! So you two did make up! I'm so glad!"

Alphonse nodded. Like his brother, he was unable to hide his amusement at seeing Sciezka again.

"Can you lead the way, Sciezka? Neither of us have been in Central long enough to know where the new first branch is." Edward asked.

"Yes sir!" Sciezka said obediently.

"Please, he's not on duty for two months." Alphonse said with a nervous chuckle. He was embarrassed to see one of his closest friends obeying his brother so easily. He had a feeling it was something he'd never get used to either.

As they walked to the first branch, they got caught up on everything that had been happening with Sciezka.

* * *

The head librarian of the first branch noticed them as they walked in, still distracted by conversation. "Sciezka! Is that the last of them?" He called.

"Oh!" Sciezka snapped out of the conversation as she was addressed. "Yes sir!" She said as she placed them on a cart with Edward and Alphonse following her lead.

"Thanks for your help, Colonel Elric." The librarian said.

"It was nothing. Sciezka's a good friend of mine. I was glad to help." He said, putting a hand on Sciezka's shoulder.

Sciezka blushed at the admission that he considered her a friend.

Alphonse nodded as he put a hand on her other shoulder. "We're both your friends. Come on Ed, or else we'll miss the train."

Edward nodded as he gave a reassuring pat on Sciezka's shoulder before following Alphonse quickly out of the library.

Sciezka happily waved goodbye to them before getting back to her duties under the watchful eye of the librarian.

* * *

They had returned to Risembool two days later, but decided to wait until the next morning before venturing over to the Rockbell's home.

Against Alphonse's advice, Edward had opted to wear his military uniform. The badge indicating his rank as a Colonel gleamed in the sun as he sighed, kneeling before a grave stone. The inscription had faded with time and was now completely illegible.

"Sorry I haven't been by…" He said quietly as he brought his hands together and touched the stone.

Suddenly 'Trisha Elric' and the rest of the inscription returned as though it had just been engraved yesterday.

"Al went ahead to try and soften Winry and Pinako up. I doubt he can…" He glanced at his pocket watch. "I've gotta go now, mom…" He put a flower on the grave before standing and walking away.

A small makeshift grave beside where Winry's parents were buried caught his attention. Seeing the name on the small sign laid in front of the stone forced tears to well up in his eyes.

"You were always a good boy…" He said as he transmuted a toy from some nearby grass and placed it on the grave. "Sorry, but it's the best I can do with such little material, Den." He said as he patted the stone.

He stared at the graves of Winry's parents before leaving flowers on each of them. He realized he couldn't think of anything to say to them as he stood and sighed.

"See ya…" He said as he waved to all three graves before walking out of the cemetery.

* * *

He paused warily on the porch.

Alphonse was supposed to have met him outside, but there was no sign of him. Without Den to alert them to visitors, he was forced to knock.

Winry opened the door with a smile. "Wel-" The smile faded as soon as she saw who it was. "Oh… what do you want?" She asked flatly. Her tone threatened to aggravate his stubborn anger, but he forced it back into check.

"I need my automail checked." He said calmly.

She glared at him for a few moments before quickly grabbing at his hand and pulling it up to her face. Her eyes narrowed in concentration as she moved the fingers carefully before moving onto the wrist.

She sighed in irritation. "You can't even keep up with your maintenance? I should just throw you out." She snapped. "But… I did work hard on it, so it would be a waste just to let it rot." She said with a softer tone. She frowned at him. "The bearings and joints are almost completely gone. I'm amazed the fingers haven't fallen off! Haven't you ever had it serviced?"

"I didn't trust anyone else with it." He said truthfully.

Winry stared at him in surprise before looking away. Her eyes flickered to the badge on his uniform. A mixture of surprise and sadness passed through them before she walked inside. "Well, come on in. I really don't want to see what shape your leg is in if your hand is that bad. But we might as well get you fixed up and out of here as soon as possible." She grumbled.

Edward fought to hide his amusement as he entered, shutting the door behind him.

* * *

Alphonse glanced at Edward apologetically from the dinner table, as he sat with a cup of coffee in hand.

"Granny! A customer!" Winry called upstairs.

Pinako came down, using a cane to support her in her old age, and frowned at Edward. "Winry, you're too nice for your own good. I'd have tossed him on his ass." She grumbled.

"It's almost falling apart! The idiot never had it serviced!" Winry snapped.

Edward frowned at being called an idiot, but otherwise kept silent.

Pinako looked at him in surprise. "Well I'll be damned. You didn't disgrace our work by having somebody else tinker with it?"

Edward sighed, shaking his head. "No, I didn't. Now can you please stop attacking me? The sooner I'm repaired, the sooner I'll leave."

Winry and Pinako looked at each other before nodding.

Winry immediately began going over everything she'd need to do while Pinako motioned for Edward to sit so his leg and arm could be removed.

"We'll assess the damage first but you can be sure we'll have it done as fast as possible. You'll be sticking around on this spare for a while, though." Pinako said as she attached the spare leg to the base where his leg connected.

"Thank you." He said quietly.

She remained silent as Winry carried the limbs upstairs to her work room.

Edward looked at the empty base where his arm used to be attached. Memories of the last time he stared at that empty socket flashed in his mind. He was grateful to Scar for saving Alphonse's life at the cost of his own, and nothing he did before then would change that. He sighed as he stood unsteadily. He hated the spare legs with a passion simply because they weren't his.

"Winry takes care of all the work now. It's better experience for her." Pinako explained to Alphonse.

* * *

"Pinako…?" Edward asked nervously after a few moments of tense silence.

Pinako looked at him. "Hm?"

"I'm sorry for everything that happened back then. I knew settling down wasn't an option for me anymore, but I should have discussed it with you before deciding to join the military."

Pinako sucked on her pipe thoughtfully, causing Edward to worry that his apology wouldn't be accepted. She chuckled as she saw his face. "I should have expected it. You're very much like your father was before he met your mother. I guess it was just wishful thinking that, with how much we suffered at the hands of the military, neither of you boys would become leashed to it on a permanent basis."

She sighed as she hit her pipe against a tray filled with ash. "You always were the headstrong one. Arguing with Alphonse as long and as hard as we argued with you would have forced him to back down."

"Hey!" Alphonse's hurt tone caused Pinako to cackle.

"You know it's true." She glanced at Edward. "I always had fun arguing with you…" Her tone grew sadder. "…except that last argument. That was uncalled for. We were just worried about you, and it made us mad that you made that decision behind all of our backs! Plus, those harsh words we exchanged weren't exactly meant with the best intentions."

Edward nodded. "I know, Pinako. I just hope Winry is as understanding as you are."

Pinako sighed. She didn't want to tell Edward that Winry cried herself to sleep for weeks after the fight. "Don't worry about it. Just don't disturb her until the automail is done. The skin plates can still be used, but the inside feels like it will be a few all-nighters for her." She glanced at the stairs. "Well, I had better get lunch started. You boys will stay here until the automail is completed. That's an order."

"Yes sir!" Edward automatically said before blushing.

Pinako cackled with Alphonse joining in with his own laughter. "I'm going to have fun with you…" Pinako grinned wickedly.

Edward felt like he should be running from the house in fear, but he knew that the unfamiliar spare leg made running impossible.

* * *

Winry decided to scrap his old limbs and make them from scratch. She claimed that's what she would have had to do anyways thanks to how badly damaged they were. It took her only a week to finish both Edward's arm and leg.

"We'll do the docking tomorrow…" Pinako said as she came downstairs after Winry called her to come collect the new limbs. "I told her to get some rest. She's been working non-stop all week. Her endurance has gotten better since the last time she's had to pull an all-nighter for you, but it's still nothing compared to mine when I was her age."

"I'll thank her when she wakes up." Edward said as he looked at the gleaming new limbs. He couldn't wait to be able to walk properly again.

Pinako nodded in understanding as she went to put the limbs into the procedure room. "We should probably check your bases too. They may need to be changed."

Edward groaned at the thought.

Pinako could only grin at his reaction as she went into the procedure room.

"Are you going to be all right?" Alphonse asked worriedly.

Edward sighed. "I'll be fine. I just hate the thought of these pieces being screwed with." He said as he touched his right shoulder, and then moved to what remained of his left leg.

Pinako chuckled as she returned. "Just think of it as our way of getting back at you."

Edward threw up his arm in defeat. "I deserve it… just go easy, all right?"

Pinako burst out laughing. "Is this coming from the boy who used to take both automail limbs getting connected to his nerves at the same time? I thought the military was supposed to make people stronger? It sounds like it's turned you into a big baby!" She taunted.

"Hell no!" He growled. "I just know that you two know how to make it as painful as possible so that even somebody with my tolerance level would be in pain."

Pinako shook her head. "Don't worry, we'll play nice. We'll just gouge you more than usual when it's bill time."

"Bring it on…" Edward said with a challenging grin at Pinako.

"You bet we will…" Pinako said, matching his grin.

Alphonse could only sigh and shake his head. "You two haven't changed…" He muttered.

* * *

Alphonse sat waiting patiently for Edward to be finished.

He was worried that Winry wouldn't be nice during the operation. She had never surfaced from her room, always having Pinako bringing her meals to her, so Edward never had a chance to apologise to her. He could only hold onto hope that Winry would remain professional about it and not let personal feelings get in the way.

Finally, Edward emerged from the procedure room while working his automail arm to get a feel for it. Quickly grabbing his uniform jacket, he walked outside without looking at Alphonse.

At first, Alphonse was hurt by being ignored, but then he suddenly remembered why Edward went outside. A grin appeared on his face as he rushed outside after his older brother.

"I was afraid you'd forgotten." Edward said as he stood on the porch.

"I almost did." He said apologetically as Edward threw his jacket over the railing as he walked down the stairs with Alphonse right behind him.

"So, do you think you can still take me? I've added military combat training to Izumi's."

Alphonse smiled. "I may be training to be a doctor, but I know I can still keep up with you in a fight."

"Then bring it on…" Edward said, making a motion for Alphonse to make the first move.

"I'll be glad to." He said as he charged at his older brother, who easily dodged it before grabbing Alphonse's arm and tossing him with ease.

Alphonse immediately recovered and came at him again.

Winry sighed as she came out onto the porch with Pinako. "He really enjoys trying to break my hard work doesn't he?" Winry grumbled.

Pinako smiled as she blew out some smoke from her pipe. "Don't be so hard on him. It's not like the military turned him into a monster."

"We can probably thank Roy for that."

Pinako nodded. "Of course we can. You'll have to thank him next time you see him."

Winry nodded absently as she watched them train.

Pinako chuckled quietly as they stood and watched the rest of the training session in silence.

* * *

Eventually the brothers approached the porch, panting in exhaustion.

"Go get cleaned up." Pinako ordered.

Edward mockingly saluted her with his left hand as he and Alphonse went inside.

Winry glanced at Pinako quizzically.

She chuckled in amusement. "I told him that he'd be staying here until the automail was done. I wanted to test how well trained Director Mustang had him, so I said that it was an order. He snapped right into my test without thinking until after it had happened."

Winry laughed. "So that's why he saluted you like that?"

Pinako nodded with a grin. "More than likely…"

Winry looked at the abandoned blue jacket slung over the railing. "I'm torn between letting him go back and tying him up in the house and refusing to let him go."

Pinako nodded. "I know how you feel. It's actually nice having him back here…"

Winry sighed. "I'm surprised he's gotten so far though. Did he forsake a social life or something?" Winry asked worriedly.

"Who knows? We did treat him pretty badly… you especially."

Winry blushed in shame. "I know. He just knew how to push the wrong buttons and I snapped…"

Pinako patted her arm comfortingly. "Don't let it bother you…"

Winry remained silent until Edward and Alphonse returned after getting cleaned up.

"It's so quiet here. I'd forgotten how quiet…" Edward said as he put on his jacket.

Pinako glanced at Alphonse and frowned worriedly. "You're bleeding."

Alphonse stared down at her in surprise before glancing at his arm. He blinked in surprise at the long cut that made its way across his arm. "When did that happen?" He sighed. "Well, we should look after it before it gets infected."

"We'll be inside if you need us." Pinako said as she followed Alphonse inside, leaving Edward and Winry alone on the porch.

* * *

Edward sighed as he leaned on the railing, staring out at the empty fields before them. "Winry I'm sorry for everything that happened back then. I would have told you sooner, but you were so busy working on my automail that I decided not to disturb you."

Winry smiled as she joined him on the railing. "It's fine. As soon as I saw how bad your automail was, I realized you still cared for us. If your automail was still in good shape, I would have known you had gone elsewhere."

Edward looked at her in confusion.

"I know you're bad at maintenance. That's never been a strong point of yours. The condition of your automail told me everything I needed to know. And I'm glad…"

Edward sighed, shaking his head. "You're still an automail junkie…"

"And you're still an alchemy freak." Her response had the usual amount of bite in it that those exchanges always had. Edward was grateful for that.

"It's good to have you back. Things around here haven't been the same without you. Even if you only come back for the occasional visits, it's better than you not returning at all." Winry said quietly. "Heh… I guess it isn't fair that you apologise and I don't. I'm sorry for everything I said, and did. Once I calmed down I realized that it was stupid of me to have attacked you like that. I'm very sorry…" She said as she buried her face in her arms.

Edward wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "You had every right. I was way out of line with everything that happened. Hell, you still probably have a few free blows left if ever you want to use them."

Winry looked at him in surprise and shock.

All this time, Edward had been trying to build up the nerve to do something he never would have done in the past. Before she could say anything more, he tilted her head upward with his left hand and kissed her.

Winry's eyes widened in surprise. She had never expected him to ever show any sign of affection for her. She figured a younger version of herself would probably have slapped him for it, but instead she wrapped her arms around his neck and gratefully deepened the kiss.

* * *

Alphonse sighed as he looked over the wrappings that covered the cut. "I must admit: I thought I had evaded him better than that." He said with an impressed tone.

Pinako chuckled as she cooked dinner. "I thought so too. I'm surprised; you're still in pretty good shape considering you haven't had a sparring partner in such a long time."

Alphonse nodded in agreement before looking at the door leading to the porch. "I hope those two can get along again. They can be so stubborn."

Pinako nodded. "I'm sure things will work out better than we expect, Alphonse." She said reassuringly.

Alphonse chuckled as he began helping her.

With dinner almost done, Pinako grinned as Alphonse set the table. "I may just keep you around; you're better help than Winry!"

"I'm offended by that!" Winry said as she and Edward came in.

Alphonse thought he saw them holding each other's hands, but when he looked again, they weren't.

Pinako cackled. "Well it's true! You two are just in time for dinner." She said as Winry helped her serve.

"It's nice to have all four of us eating together again." Edward said as they sat.

The others nodded in agreement as they began to eat and talk happily.

* * *

Once the dishes were cleaned and put away, Pinako brought out a familiar booklet that had Edward shaking his head. "Don't bother…" He said, causing Pinako and Winry to look at him in surprise. "I've made up my own price." He explained.

Alphonse looked at him curiously. "This is a first, what do you mean, brother?"

Edward produced a sizeable pile of money and placed it into Pinako's hands. "Call it five years' worth of back payments. And I'm not taking a single cent back." He said casually before he went outside.

Alphonse and Winry hovered around Pinako as she counted. Her face began to lose colour as she continued to count before finally, she had to sit in shock.

Winry and Alphonse stared at each other with similar expressions of shock. The amount of money Edward had given Pinako was equal to ten payments for his set of automail, a great deal more than any of them had expected.

"We have to-" Winry began, but Alphonse raised his hand to cut her off.

"Don't bother. You heard him. You know as well as I do that he'll leave it here when he returns to Central in two months."

"Two months?" Winry and Pinako said in surprise.

"Yeah, General Mustang sent him on a two month leave."

"He sends his regards too." Everyone jumped as Edward stood leaning against the wall. "Sorry about that. Come on, it looks as though it's going to be a nice sunset tonight." He said before going back outside.

"You heard him." Alphonse said in amusement as he headed for the door.

Winry and Pinako looked at each other before rolling their eyes and going out to join the brothers.

* * *

Two months passed as Edward entered Roy's office. "I'm reporting in from my two month leave, sir."

Roy nodded with a smile. "I heard Winry came back with you."

"Yeah… she's visiting Sciezka."

"It's good to see that you managed to reconcile with everyone."

Edward nodded. "It's a huge burden that's been lifted, that's for certain."

"Then I expect your productivity to double." Roy smirked at Edward's expression. "I'm only kidding. Learn to lighten up, Fullmetal."

"Tsk. If we weren't on duty, I'd have quite a few choice words for you."

Roy laughed. "You have the rest of the day off to do what you want. I want you here tomorrow though."

"You're too lenient on me; people may start whispering about favouritism." Edward said, frowning.

Roy shrugged. "Don't worry. It was only this once. Just consider your two month leave as a favour repaid."

Edward sighed and nodded. "I guess I'd better get going. I wanted to go visit Brigadier General Hughes."

Roy nodded. "Oh yeah, Riza and Gracia are starting up a new little club and they believe Winry would make a perfect candidate to join."

Edward paused as his hand was on the doorknob before looking back at him in confusion. "What kind of club?"

Roy shrugged casually. "They don't have a name for it yet, so they've just been calling it the MOWC."

"What does that stand for?" Edward asked warily.

"Nothing special." Roy said before a sly smirk appeared. "Just the Military Officers' Wives Club. As they said, they're still working on the name."

Edward's colour changed rapidly as he paled, which quickly turned to blushing before he looked back at the door to hide his face. "Tell them I said that won't be happening in their lifetime."

Roy burst out laughing. "I won't tell them anything. You never can tell with people these days…" He said slyly before Edward regained his composure and left the office.

He could hear Edward's grumblings outside his door, which faded away as Edward walked away. "You really never can tell anymore…" Roy muttered before sighing down at a stack of papers that demanded his attention.

* * *

**Author's Note:** That's it! It's done! Now there will be a month's hiatus from me until I begin uploading the pride of my story fleet: Winged Destiny. I hope you all enjoyed Return to Chaos. It was a love/hate relationship between me and it during it's rebirth, but I still enjoy the final results. I'm not 100 percent satisfied with it, but I doubt I'll go back and modify it. So enjoy the conclusion of Return to Chaos!


End file.
